Poké Wars: The Incipience
by Cornova
Summary: Pokemon of the world have changed, their abilities now lethal with a common enemy in mind: Humanity. In response to the human genocide, factions are forged among the Legendary Pokemon, alliances and battles from opposing dogmas dictating the fate of man
1. Heart of Gold

**This story takes place right after episode 553 - Fighting Fear with Fear.**

**August 17**

* * *

The pallid moonlight cast a subtle shadow on the concrete surface of the buildings. The clouds, like ships, roamed the black ocean of the night sky. She bared stars for all to see, yet the city lights' glow made them dim in comparison. From the top of the skyscraper it seemed like a silent midnight. The amber glow from the streets below dimmed the brilliance of the numerous stars above. Further down, the buildings unveiled the misleading sense of tranquility, in reality a bustling and nearly endless stream of people, busy as Beedrill. Lights from every color of the spectrum flashed, enticing one to move or stop for any number of reasons. The flow of people was no different from the afternoon. Unbeknownst to the people of this city, their lives would be end, like the dying ember of a candle snuffed out by a sudden blast of air.

A column of blue light suddenly ascended into the heavens, boring a hole through the small sea of clouds above it. The spectacle caught everyone's attention. Couples gazed from their windows, all cars stopped, their drivers exiting to see, and the hustle and bustle of the city ceased within seconds. It was as if the city had frozen in place. The towering beam of cerulean luminance was looked upon from every angle. The sight was mystifying, having an ethereal feel to it, even as it began to pulsate and waking populace had no clue as how to respond to what they were seeing, whether to continue watching or to run away in fear.

The sea of clouds that surrounded the tower of light rocketed away in all directions. Tremors shook the city, the shockwave throwing anything standing to the ground.

Glass from every building shattered entirely, the glittering shards raining down to the sidewalks and streets below. As the people shielded their heads with their arms or anything on their person, those that were out of range of the falling glass watched as the looming beam of light grew larger. Some people began to run while others continued to watch, but by the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late. An encroaching wall of light extended into every corner of the city. Buildings dissolved as the light approached. Cars were blown away like trees in a hurricane, tumbling down the streets upon other cars and fleeing populace. The sidewalks and streets disintegrated, the once-hypnotized watchers turned and ran, only for the light to already pass over them. Their dark silhouettes faded into the light. The column had grown into a sphere, the bottom hemisphere boring through the earth.

The destruction continued a mile from the city before the light faded into nonexistence. In its wake a crater that spanned for miles around the epicenter of destruction. Not a single person in the city had survived the light, save one creature.

A single plume of dirt rose and dispersed rapidly as the figure crashed into the ground. He remained motionless for several hours until his arm twitched, the body levitating off the ground. Mewtwo's toes gingerly touched the soft earth beneath him, his legs almost buckling when he put too much weight on them. He held himself aloft with his psychic abilities, his hand absentmindedly reaching for his temple to quell the lingering echoes of pain. The words he heard in his head continued to resonate within his mind.

"_**I've given you the power to take back our world from the humans**_…**kill any who stand against you.**" Without warning he had felt a power growing rapidly inside him, threatening to escape and unleash the full extent of his powers. The more Mewtwo resisted, the harder it became to stay conscious until he had finally blacked out.

"What…happened?" Mewtwo said in disbelief, looking all around and seeing nothing but a crater that extended about a few kilometers in every direction. Mewtwo's gaze fell to his collision's imprint; everything seemed to have blasted away from him. Mewtwo's eyes rose up to see the moon shining without contest, no clouds to obscure her radiance for miles.

From what he could tell, the stars and constellations had been in the same place that he had seen them last. The moon was entirely full, so not a day had gone by so to give her time to change in phase.

"This…was done by my hands and my hands alone." Mewtwo told himself somberly.

He had been living in that city for several years after hopping through different ones and finding this one to be to his liking. By day he hid in a shelter he had made for himself, managing to steal equipment from the city to modify his humble abode.

At night he roamed the skies above the city. He was rarely seen except for a few times when the moon was full and someone happened to be watching it when he passed through. He had grown bored of flying through the city after the first couple of nights. It was hard to not take the freedom for granted, but after a while Mewtwo felt the need to give himself a purpose. He sought to acquire things to furnish his hideaway like he had done so in the past. Mewtwo simply took what he felt he needed to live comfortably, erasing the minds of the people so that they would not notice the absence of the things he stole. He had managed to reroute certain key cables to supply his quarters with an adequate amount of electricity. If anyone noticed what he had done and come to investigate where the power was going, leading them to his dwelling, he simply erased their memories and placed them someplace else, a task that he had become quite adept at doing. There were times when he had considered whether or not to reveal himself to the people of the city, but had decided against it. Preferring to avoid another bothersome squabble with Team Rocket where he would have to erase their memories and teleport them away in the end, he decided to stick to the shadows. He didn't want to give citizens of the city any more trouble than they already had.

Mewtwo often wondered about the fate of his clone Pokemon. He wondered if they had been captured, if they were happy with their freedom.

Mewtwo made a fist. Against his better judgment he had become attached to the city. His home had now been destroyed; with hundreds, possibly thousands, of people dead as a result. The ground beneath him abruptly caved into a crater as he skyrocketed into the sky. Mewtwo gazed down at his grim handiwork; dismal amazement came with the realization that he had been able to wipe out the entire city. He had cleared a lab facility, nearly obliterated a large base, and teleported an island below ground. But to wipe out an entire city so thoroughly and in such a short time was something that he hadn't thought was within the scope of his abilities yet.

Mewtwo felt stronger and faster than ever before. He could feel that his senses, reflexes, and psychic abilities had been heightened, but the price for that power had been too steep for his liking. "_Could Team Rocket be the cause of my outburst? Whether it was them or not, something was able to psychically speak to me within my own mind_," Mewtwo thought as his eyes began to glow a menacing sapphire.

Suddenly, something approached him and descended to his level. From what Mewtwo could tell, it was a bird Pokemon, but not any that he had ever seen before. It stopped before him, flapping its wings frequently to keep itself level with Mewtwo. His reddish-orange wings turned emerald at the edges, complimented by the golden tail feathers that trailed behind him. Black feathers surrounded his eyes, the orange irises fixated upon Mewtwo. The eyes seemed to analyze him with wonder and perplexity. They stared at each other in silence for several uncomfortable seconds, the legendary seemingly dissecting him with his gaze alone before his beak opened.

"You did all of this?" Ho-oh said with interest, motioning to the crater all around them.

"_That voice_!" Mewtwo instantly recognized it as the voice that had been in his head when his powers had frenzied before he had passed out. Ho-oh ceased the flapping of his wings, letting gravity take him to the ground.

Just before he collided with the earth, Ho-oh flapped once more, allowing him to gently land. The gust kicked up a cloud of dust and earth that surrounded him before he flapped his wings once more, sending them away from his presence.

Ho-oh jumped back, flapping his wings to give himself more speed and distance between himself and Mewtwo, who slammed into the ground with a psychic orb surrounding his body, the impact sending shockwaves through the crater and plumes of dirt into the air.

Mewtwo turned to face Ho-oh, his angry azure glowing eyes clearly visible through the mist of earthly airborne debris. With a single thought, Mewtwo cleared the mist from his presence, his eyes glowing heatedly.

"Did you destroy this entire area single-handedly?" Ho-oh inquired once more as he repeatedly scanned the crater they were currently standing in, waiting for Mewtwo's confirmation.

"I did. Against my will. I hold you accountable for this destruction; I heard your voice in my mind before I lost consciousness. The things that you said there lead me to believe that you are the one responsible."

"How very astute of you. I Ho-oh am the one responsible for your loss of consciousness and for the sudden increase in power that resulted in your rampage." Ho-oh gave a curt, but mocking bow.

"Why?" Mewtwo growled.

"What reason do you have to be angry with me? Was it because this area may have been home to you…or could it be about the lives lost here?"

"Hundreds of humans lost their lives due to the outburst. These were innocent people, merely living out their lives; they had no reason to die. A home can be replaced, but lives cannot!" Mewtwo barked.

"Surely you have not lived long enough to see the acts of cruelty of humans like I have," Ho-oh countered.

"Whatever they have done, killing them will solve nothing."

"If you had seen the horrifying things that I had seen, things that would leave you with many sleepless nights, your words would not hold as much confidence as they do now."

"I admit that I have not lived on this earth long, but I know what is right and wrong," Mewtwo stated firmly. An uncomfortable silence reigned between the two, each scrutinizing the other before Ho-oh broke the silence with a new topic.

"What are you? You remind me of a Pokemon that I know of, but I have not seen any Pokemon like you before. Am I to presume that you are a new Pokemon, a new evolution of some sort or a Pokemon from somewhere that is beyond my knowledge of the world?" Ho-oh asked, gazing up at the sky and its stars.

"I know not whether I would be considered a new Pokemon. My name is Mewtwo. I am a genetically modified clone of Mew, created by humans several years ago. I had been born to be experimented on and made to battle against other Pokemon, but I have forsaken that purpose and have decided to live out my final days freely."

Ho-oh gazed at Mewtwo with bewildered eyes for a few seconds before lowering his head.

"You are yet another example of why I believe that _all_ humans must now be eliminated," Ho-oh sighed.

"What has possessed you to come to this conclusion? How have the humans wronged you so that you may want to eliminate them all?"

"Do not mistake my decision for the way they have wronged me. My decision to do this has evolved from a petty personal vendetta, to a necessity; something that I feel must be done for the good of the world and all Pokemon. I do what I feel is the best for my race!" Ho-oh clarified.

"Enlighten me." Mewtwo said with partial interest and bitterness.

"In my many years of traveling, I have watched the humans mistreat the Pokemon of this world. I have seen humans torture and break Pokemon down to the point where they no longer had any emotions, for the sole purpose of making them battle. It has become common practice for these humans to go out into the wilderness and abduct a Pokemon from its habitat and home, forcing it to entertain their sick and twisted desires. The humans have them display their skills and fight their brothers and sisters, all for sport. The Pokemon have become complacent, accepting this fate as another method of life. I refuse to let humans continue to enslave Pokemon. Large groups of people use Pokemon not as creatures, but as tools to achieve their own personal goals. You of all Pokemon should understand this most of all."

Mewtwo remained silent.

"These humans continue to grow and consume the resources of the earth with no thought of how it affects the Pokemon around them and the ecosystem. They produce nothing that can go back to nature, only creating things that will benefit themselves. The waters and skies have been tainted by their pollution; the lands are leveled to make monstrosities of metal while homes of the neighboring Pokemon are destroyed. If anything, I see the humans now for what they really are."

"And what might that be?"

"Humans are all viruses. They inhabit an area and multiply, spreading over to other areas and repeating the process. Slowly, the area they live in begins to die, and as they reproduce, they use up the resources around them with no intention of giving back the very nature that they have taken their resources from."

"Surely there are good hearted humans," Mewtwo countered, a mental image of one human coming to mind.

"In my journeys I did indeed come across humans that could be considered pure of heart, those that I considered ideal for coexisting with humans." Ho-oh relented.

"Then you seek to damn the innocent for the transgressions of the majority that do wrong in your eyes!"

"Despite the fact that these pure-hearted humans are ideal for the world that I seek to bring, they are many reasons that I cannot allow them to live," Ho-oh replied. "Those that I consider pure of heart would immediately rebel to the idea of having me commit many humans to genocide. These humans fated for damnation could be friends or even family of the pure-hearted humans."

"All humans have the potential for goodness," Mewtwo contradicted.

"In theory, yes, but these humans already had their chance. I would've started this liberation years ago had I not been promised that if I searched I would find pure-hearted humans. The handful that I saw were not enough to sate me, but my journey allowed me to cool my head and think. These kind-hearted humans were just as guilty as those that committed the crimes," Ho-oh declared.

"How so?" Mewtwo asked.

"Regardless of how kind these humans were, they did nothing to educate those around them and spread their influence to other people. Some were able to thwart the deeds of those with Pokemon who were wicked, while others merely cowered and watched. Those who witness crimes being committed before them and do nothing in response are just as guilty as those who commit the crime."

"So in the end, rather take the more difficult and righteous road of keeping the few alive, you have decided to make it easier on yourself and eliminate everyone."

"Can you not see that there is no other alternative?" Ho-oh sighed, "If I warned them and if they agreed, they would listen to me at first, but with time, they would slowly revert back to the old ways. I highly doubt that the humans that are pure of heart would agree with my methods as their friends and family may be the ones that I have deemed necessary to eliminate. The ones of pure heart would retaliate and turn to violence, tainting the very things that had kept them alive. Even if they did agree, humans breed quickly. Their children could very well not be pure of heart, there would be simply too many to control their development. Things would simply revert to the way they are now," Ho-oh explained.

"So you intend to wipe out all of humanity by yourself?" Mewtwo asked.

"I do not intend to do it all by myself. The reason your powers went rampant was because I removed your dampener."

"Dampener?"

"Not only yours, but the dampener of every Pokemon on the planet. From the furthest reaches of the ocean and the earth to highest mountains and all the skies. The wild Pokemon have heard my decree. They shall wipe out the majority of the humans for me as I have given them all the power to kill. Humans and their enslavement technology will no longer work on our brethren. Of course there will be Pokemon that cling to their human masters. Death shall relieve them of their shackles of servitude. Those that stand against what is right shall quickly be weeded out and eliminated, purging this world of traitors." Ho-oh's eyes shined at the beauty of his plan. The news shocked Mewtwo, the idea that now every single living Pokemon had the power to kill, just like him.

"I demand that you revert the Pokemon back to normal!" Mewtwo ordered.

"You are in no position to be giving me orders, and even if I wanted to, there is no way for me to return the Pokemon back to normal." Ho-oh admitted.

"I should kill you for what you've done," Mewtwo hissed, his azure eyes glowing brighter.

"Kill me for ensuring peace for all Pokemon? Kill me for saving our planet from further damnation through pollution and destruction? Can you not fathom how wondrous this world could be if there were no longer any humans? Nature as far as the eye could see, clean air and skies, fresh and crystal clear water, rich and vibrant grass and soil. I am removing a tumor from this earth, a tumor that has outstayed its welcome and multiplied too fast. I had to do this while our species still outnumbered them; I am doing this for our sake, for Arceus! Am I to be penalized for doing what is right?" Ho-oh yelled.

Mewtwo could say nothing at first, seeing as he did not even know who Arceus was, but was sure that it was someone of great importance.

"You preach such righteous words, yet you intend to let others stain their paws, wings, and claws with the blood of millions. I must stop you before you do any more damage, even if that means killing you" Mewtwo roared as he braced himself once more for battle.

"Even if you could kill me, the wheels of fate have begun to turn, and nothing, not even I, can stop it! Attempting to kill me will not change all the Pokemon back to normal, the change is permanent, and there is no going back. Our species can only go forward from now on, and ensure happiness and freedom for the future. But it seems you still intend to kill me, so I shall humor you for now."

Mewtwo had barely begun to attack when Ho oh attacked first, a river of flame rushing towards him. With the casual flick of his wrist Mewtwo parted the torrent of fire, two rows of flame now beside him. Mewtwo instantly noticed Ho-oh's absence, realizing that the flames had been used to veil his movements.

As he quickly scanned the crater, Mewtwo noticed that his shadow had grown bigger. Mewtwo gazed up and saw Ho oh plummeting towards him. Once spotted, Ho-oh used Fire Blast, Mewtwo psychically tearing it apart.

Mewtwo thrust his free hand at Ho-oh, sending a psychic wave to capture and crush him. Ho-oh's body passed through the cloud of psychic energy as if it were mist. Mewtwo burst back; barely dodging Ho-oh's attack and sending up a wave of dirt and debris in all directions.

Ho-oh flapped his wings, the gusts of wind carrying the dirt over to Mewtwo a few meters away. The dirt stopped in mid air before Mewtwo as he held out his hand, a twitch from his fingers in Ho-oh's direction sent the sand back at him. Sand began to encircle Ho-oh as Mewtwo forming it into a cocoon. Ho-oh easily cleared the area around him with a single flap, gazing coyly at Mewtwo.

"Had you not been made by humans, I would say that I preferred you to Mew when it came to fighting" Ho-oh confessed.

Without warning, a purple psychic column burst out from behind Ho-oh, striking his blind spot. The attack hadn't even ruffled Ho oh's feathers, Ho oh pretended he didn't even notice the attack. Mewtwo had used Future Sight in the midst of his other attacks, planning to have it strike Ho-oh down when he least expected it. Mewtwo's flabbergasted expression brought the closest thing that Ho-oh had to a smile with his beak.

"You're probably wondering why your psychic attacks do not work on me?" Ho-oh said pompously.

Mewtwo did nothing but scowl back, wanting to give no further satisfaction to the legendary with his confession of his lack of knowledge.

"Would you like to know?" Ho-oh coaxed, Mewtwo snarling his reply.

Ho-oh burst forward, a crater forming beneath his feet from the sheer force of his lunge. Mewtwo was barely able to dodge Ho-oh's attack, making a crater of his own as he burst into the sky. Ho-oh slowed to a stop, turning his head to see Mewtwo floating a few meters above where he had once stood.

"Aside from the human's capturing devices no longer working on Pokemon, there are six other things that the removal of the dampeners allow Pokemon to now do. You have just experienced one of them. Had your dampeners not been removed, you would not have been able to dodge my attack. All speed, strength, reflexes, reaction times, and abilities pertaining to the elements have been augmented"

Before Mewtwo was even given the chance to absorb the information, waves of heat washed over the space around him as he barely managed to put up a psychic barrier around himself. The heat shimmered and died when Ho-oh closed his mouth, giving his version of a smile once more.

"That attack was known by the humans as Heat Wave. It is not a move that I am normally able to do, but with the dampeners gone, every fire move is now available to me. Every Pokemon will now be able to use any move that is the same as their element"

"Interesting…" Mewtwo raised his arm and brought it down rapidly, the mile wide crater in its entirety sank even deeper into the ground. Mewtwo's eyes widened in surprise when Ho-oh remained aloft in the air.

"Impressive. You meant to clip my wings with Gravity. That might've actually worked, had my dampener not have been removed," Ho-oh cackled. The legendary shot through the air towards Mewtwo. Before Mewtwo knew it he was thrown to the ground at the edge of the crater, trenching it with the psychic bubble that protected him.

"Not only can I combine attacks, but I can also use any attack that is a physical possibility for my body. Mewtwo blinked, Ho-oh disappearing from his vision once more.

"This move is known by the humans as Extremespeed, which I plan on combining with a move they call, Giga Impact" Ho-oh whispered into Mewtwo's ear from behind him. Mewtwo whirled around, swinging his arm around to strike the empty air behind him, a cerulean blade from Mewtwo's Psycho Cutter extending from his arm and fading out of existence.

Mewtwo barely noticed an infinitesimal speck in the distance bridge the mile between them in less than a second. Ho-oh's Extremespeed-Giga Impact slammed into Mewtwo's psychic barrier that had barely managed to come up in time to absorb the strike. Mewtwo's orb flew from one edge of the crater to the other side, embedding itself in the wall of earth. As Ho oh advanced towards him, Mewtwo noticed that Ho-oh's beak had cracked from the attack. As soon as Mewtwo had seen the crack, the beak melded back into perfection, the silver radiance of the moon giving Ho-oh's beak a golden sheen. Mewtwo noted the sudden fatigue that worked its way into Ho-oh's body; the act of using Recover seemed to have had its drawbacks now that the dampeners were removed. The distance between them gave Mewtwo a brief moment to think without worrying about being attacked.

"_Why does he tell me these things? Had he kept this knowledge to himself, he would have the upper hand. It cannot merely be because he is so confident in his strength that he feels that divulging this to me will change nothing? Does he see this as some sort of sport, giving me this information to make the fight more even? If it is, I shall make him regret underestimating me_!"

The ground below Ho-oh began to glow blue. A pillar of earth skyrocketed through the air, nearly skewering Ho-oh had he not dodged in time. A barrage of stone spikes shot from the ground, Ho-oh managing to dodge them all. The ground was left checkered with pockets in the earth. Boulders burst from the sides of the wall of earth behind Mewtwo, each stone outlined with Mewtwo's faint blue psychic aura.

If Mewtwo couldn't affect Ho-oh directly with his psychic abilities, then he would affect the area around him and use that to fight instead. Ho-oh advanced towards Mewtwo, his speed never lessening no matter what was thrown at him. Boulders that Mewtwo summoned from the other side of the crater to strike Ho oh from behind were also somehow dodged.

"_The fact that he's dodging the boulders means that they might actually hurt him_" Mewtwo thought.

The onslaught intensified, Ho-oh resorting to having to bat away the rocks with his wings or melt them into liquid rock with his fire attacks. Mewtwo began to ascend into the air, Ho-oh following in pursuit, dodging the stones that attempted to slow him down. It was then Ho-oh noticed that the stones from the ground that Mewtwo had initially used to attack him were floating just above him more he looked around, the more he noticed that every stone that Mewtwo had launched at him was still suspended by Mewtwo's psychic ability. There were literally dozens aimed at him from every angle. Mewtwo had allowed him to think that he had dodged the stones completely. Now that he was where Mewtwo wanted him, every stone converged on him at once.

The rocks collided with such force that they practically fused and melded into one boulder. Mewtwo suspended the giant boulder above the ground for a few seconds before letting it crash onto the floor. The stone was still for a few seconds, then its core began to glow red, yellow, and then white before the rock exploded, molten rock raining across the basin. At the epicenter of the scorched mark that had blossomed onto the ground, was Ho-oh, seemingly unscathed but nothing could hide the exhaustion that he carried on his shoulders. Ho-oh turned towards Mewtwo, an expression not of hatred or anger, but of respect.

"I commend you for managing to get as far as you have. I haven't had a fight like this in ages. You've gone farther than I anticipated, especially with my dampeners removed long ago while yours are only recently removed. The fact that you were able to adapt so quickly to the knowledge I've bestowed upon you is admirable, not being able to attack me directly with your psychic attacks but using your environment as your weapon. There isn't much for you to work with in this crater, but you managed to effectively utilize my weakness against rock attacks against me."

Mewtwo gawked at Ho-oh, unable to fathom how Ho-oh had been able to avoid death from all the wounds he should have sustained from his attack. Mewtwo's disbelieving visage brought visible enjoyment to Ho-oh.

"Oh, I believe an explanation is in order. The final change that the removal of the dampener allows is that if a Pokemon has enduring negative emotions like hate, anger, and vengeance, they will gain the attribute of-" Ho-oh was interrupted as an invisible hand clamped itself around his throat.

"Darkness" Mewtwo said, finishing Ho-oh's sentence with his hand extended towards the legendary, lifting him off the ground. Mewtwo's eyes glowed a darker shade of blue now that he was using Miracle Eye.

"_That explains how you were unaffected by my psychic attacks. The undampened darkness attribute is truly formidable, seeing as any dark types are now perfectly immune to anything dealing with psychic abilities, with the exception of the move Miracle Eye, allowing dark types to be affected by psychic moves_" Mewtwo thought as he began floating towards Ho-oh, who made strangled noises but made no attempts to flail or struggle. Ho-oh stared at Mewtwo, not with fear, surprise, or resentment, but with boredom.

"Your last revelation was truly your downfall. Had you not told me that you had gained a third attribute and became a dark type, I would not have used this move until much later and as only an experiment to see if it would work on you if this battle had persisted. I do not understand your motives for telling me the very things that led to your demise, but it no longer matters now. You are far too dangerous to keep alive and you must pay for what you've done."

Mewtwo raised his other arm and proceeded to pull Ho-oh's wings off as well as his head and discarding them away from the body, casting it to the deepest level of the crater checkered with potholes. Mewtwo watched with interest as the remnants of Ho-oh's body burst into flame and left nothing but piles of ash. He did not know whether it was normal for a legendary to die by that manner, but then again, this was the first time he had killed a legendary.

In all the time that Mewtwo had been tearing Ho-oh apart, aside from the winces of pain, Ho-oh's stare never left Mewtwo.

What sent shivers down Mewtwo's spine was not only the expression that Ho-oh bore into him, but the fact that he recognized those eyes better than anyone. They were the same eyes he had once worn many years ago. It frightened him to think that had those influential moments not happened to him, he would be in Ho-oh's position, readily accepting Ho-oh's ideals. Mewtwo stood alone within the crater, wondering what he would do next. Ho-oh's logic was hard to ignore and difficult to refute. Throughout the entire argument he had done little to defend humanity and it pained him to know that humanity's sins were so numerous and difficult to defend or ignore.

"Will I have to kill Pokemon to stop them from killing humans? Can I prevent the damage that Ho-oh has done with words alone?" Mewtwo said out loud to no one in particular, closing his eyes as the cerulean glow faded away and revealed his regular eye color.

Mewtwo began to float up, still unsure of what to do, when he felt the amber glow creep across his arms. Searing heat embraced him from behind and all that Mewtwo could feel were flames licking eagerly at his skin before everything faded to darkness and he blacked out.

* * *

**Chapter 2: King of the Sea**


	2. King of the Sea

**Many thanks to Jakayrta for helping with this chapter**

* * *

Kyogre's eyes fluttered open. He quickly scanned the trench walls he had slipped into for his slumber. The walls were battered from where he had rammed his head against them, deep gashes from where he had flailed his fins. The walls were filled with tunnels, bored from the high-pressure torrents of water he had fired uncontrollably. Shards of ice randomly blossomed and adorned the walls of his trench due to his frenzy.

Kyogre recalled waking up to a searing pain that seemed to resonate from within his own head. His body moved with its own will and purpose, trying to do anything that would distract him from the pain, even if it meant inflicting some other pain to do it. Before he went unconscious he recalled a voice telling him, "I've given you the power to take back our world from the humans…kill any who stand against you."

Kyogre felt that the voice was familiar, but couldn't quite recall who it belonged to. He knew for certain that it belonged to one of the legendaries, but he hadn't seen them in so long that he could hardly recall what their voices sounded like, let alone guess what their motives were for waking him from his slumber, sending that message, and causing him to go on an underwater rampage.

Kyogre began to ascend to the surface, realizing that he should've been thankful that his tantrum had occurred within the trench and not near the surface; otherwise he might've created tsunamis that would've reached the coast. The act would be a one-way ticket to another brawl with Groudon.

A sensation that coursed through Kyogre's veins suddenly made him blind, deaf, and dumb to the world. An overwhelming sense of power could be felt in every fiber of his being; unsure if it was even possible, he felt more comfortable in his own skin than he ever had before. The power he felt was not something that he felt had been bestowed upon him, but more like something that had always been there, like a weight had been lifted off him.

It was then that Kyogre realized the flurry of movement around him. Water Pokémon of every variety swam in one direction. His eye rested on a group of Squirtles, one of them flinched at the sight of Kyogre's giant eye coming up beside them. The group huddled together, focusing their attention on one of their own. Cornered by his peers, the Squirtle in question relented and swam towards Kyogre.

"C-can I help you?" The Squirtle asked nervously.

"Where is everyone going?" Kyogre asked.

"You went through that painful experience didn't you? Everyone did. We thought that Manaphy might have also been hurt by it as some of our friends were killed in the midst of the frenzy," the Squirtle explained. Kyogre remained silent for a few seconds, a curt nod dismissing the Squirtle.

_"Killed? What is the meaning of this? All these Pokémon went through a rampage like me?"_

Kyogre looked around, seeing that all the water Pokémon around him moved with a single mind. Part of Kyogre couldn't help but feel pangs of jealousy towards Manaphy who was receiving the attention of the entire ocean for something that he had also suffered. He swam silently, all the water Pokémon moving out of his way as he joined in the flow towards Manaphy.

* * *

Kyogre quickly noticed that he was close to the Temple of the Sea when the ocean began to grow more and more congested with Pokémon. Had he not been a legendary, getting through the throng of water Pokémon would have been difficult, but at the sight of him the ocean of Pokémon parted before him. Kyogre wondered whether they did this for him out of fear or respect.

Floating before him was the Temple of the Sea, encased within a transparent bubble as it traveled beneath the ocean. The lowermost section of the temple was smooth like a cone and adorned with windows across its surface. Stone structures seemed to orbit around the temple like many moons.

The upper half of the temple was like a fountain, composed of several layers with the next being smaller than its successor. A length of stone extended from the top of the temple, spiraling around to the center. Rows of columns supported the structure near the top; the area around the middle was like the outskirts of a city with its own port.

As Kyogre drew closer to the temple, he noticed the expressions of the Pokémon around him were all filled with fear. Kyogre followed the direction of their eyes, all of them pointed upwards, towards the surface.

Some Pokémon weren't fast enough to move out of his way as he ascended through the waters, the Pokémon simply rolling off him as he breached the surface. There was so many Pokémon around him that one could not tell that they were even on the ocean; the only hint coming from the way the crowd of Pokémon moved in response to the waves.

Kyogre gazed up to find Ho-oh, lazily flapping his wings, hovering above the throng and Manaphy floating before him. Next to him was a Pokémon that he had never seen before with light purple skin, a dark lavender tail, and a burning cerulean aura steaming off his body, as well as Manaphy's.

"Why doesn't someone do something?" Kyogre overheard a Horsea say amidst the masses.

"Because, the legendary said that if we try attacking him, Manaphy will get hurt" an Octillery replied to the Horsea.

Ho-oh's eyes fell on Kyogre, a curt smile forming on his beak as he nodded at the Pokémon with the burning blue aura. Before Kyogre could even speak, his body suddenly became outlined with the same blue aura that the mystery Pokémon and Manaphy had around their bodies. Kyogre found that it was impossible to even move, as his body was lifted higher and higher into the air, the multicolored ocean of Pokemon gasped in awe and horror as they watched Kyogre fly.

Kyogre tried to remain calm, taking deep breaths as he continued to lift up into the air, he was not accustomed to being airborne for so long. He tried convincing himself with closed eyes that the skies were just another ocean and that he would be fine, no matter how high they dropped him they would be merely returning him back to his home. Eventually his rising stopped, he was now level with Ho-oh, Manaphy, and the mysterious Pokemon that he felt was responsible for lifting them.

"Kyogre, how are you?" Ho-oh asked with the utmost attempt at sincerity in his voice. Kyogre immediately recognized Ho-oh's voice as the one that had spoken into his head before he went on a rampage and blacked out.

"What is the meaning of this Ho-oh?!" Kyogre demanded; relieved that he could at least move some parts of his body. He briefly looked at Manaphy. "Release Manaphy." Kyogre ordered. "Now!"

"All in due time my friend. Worry not, I have no intention of bringing harm to Manaphy, I shall release him soon," Ho-oh said, attempting to console the legendary of the sea. Kyogre stared closely at Manaphy, noticing that his eyes were closed and his shoulders were limp and slumped.

"What have done to him!?" Kyogre roared.

"Do not worry, he is not hurt. If anything, I have made it safer for him as he is now. I merely had Hypnosis used on him; he's asleep and won't be waking up for a while" Ho-oh explained.

"He doesn't know Hypnosis! Then how could he have-" Kyogre's eyes fell on the light purple Pokemon who had said nothing throughout the entire conversation.

"What is that?" Kyogre inquired.

"Oh him…worry not, he is not important. Consider him as a new an addition to my dogs."

"What do you want with Manaphy?"

"Manaphy? I don't care about Manaphy; I want to talk to you! You are far more important" Ho-oh corrected.

"Then what do I owe this wonderful meeting?" Kyogre retorted.

"Is that any way to treat someone before they give you a gift?"

"What gift could you possibly give me?"

"Why the very thing that you deserve."

"That being?"

"Allow me to explain myself before I answer that question"

Ho-oh and Kyogre exchanged gazes for a few silent seconds before Kyogre relented and closed his eyes, sighing, "Speak."

"Wonderful. As you probably noticed, you suffered a painful headache that caused you to go on a rampage wherever you were at that moment. You and every single Pokémon experienced that same sensation at the same time. What I have done is that I have removed your dampener," Ho-oh explained, going into further detail about what dampeners were and what their removal meant. Ho-oh went on to explain why he had removed every Pokémon 's dampener, doing his best not to rant on too long about what he had planned for humanity.

"What do you gain out of this?" Kyogre asked once Ho-oh had paused long enough to allow him to speak.

"Gain? This isn't about what I gain; this is about what our entire species gains and what nature itself gains from what I am doing. Would you not consider what I am doing the ultimate selfless act? What you have given the world is the greatest gift that it has ever received, a gift that makes up nearly 70% of our planet. These humans overfish the denizens of your domain; they poison and litter in your ocean. They are the only species on this planet that produces and invents new forms of garbage. With your dampener removed, you are the most important Pokémon on the planet now. I have given you the ability to defeat Groudon, once and for all. He would think thrice before deciding to battle you now with you dampener removed, nevermore would you ever suffer a defeat at his claws" Ho-oh paused once more, letting Kyogre soak in the idea of his newfound power.

Kyogre liked the idea of being able to defeat Groudon, but he had no strong vendettas against the humans, at least not enough to want to wipe all of humanity.

"Can't you see how magnificent this world could be without humans, and with you as my partner it can all be possible. None of the blood would have to be on your fins, all I ask is that you merely join forces with me and let the Pokémon of your domain help me. The ability to win against Groudon is not the gift that I intend to give you. Do you want to know how I found you?"

_Do I even have a choice?_ Kyogre thought.

"When the dampeners were removed I knew that I wanted to talk to you and one other legendary of the sea, but how do I find you in a place as vast as the entire ocean?"

Ho-oh gave a nod towards the psychic Pokémon that suspended Manaphy and Kyogre. The Pokémon 's eyes glowed and a barrier appeared below Ho-oh, the rainbow legendary using it as a platform to perch himself on.

"I noticed that all the water Pokémon were heading in one direction to see one of the three important legendaries of the sea. Oddly enough, this legendary is smaller and weaker compared to the other two. Do you not find it strange, that while you created the ocean, Manaphy can command all of its inhabitants, including you? And why? Because if Manaphy dies your ocean will suffer. He is a weak link, and although he is my Pokémon brother, I find it insulting to categorize him with you. Were it not for you, there would be nothing for Manaphy to rule over. You should have complete control over anyone who swims in the ocean. It is your right as its maker. Which is why I give you this gift," Ho-oh said, his head motioning from Manaphy to Kyogre. Manaphy's unconscious form floated towards Kyogre.

Kyogre stared at Manaphy, then back at Ho-oh in confusion.

"What do you expect me to do?" Kyogre asked.

"What I expect you to do would not be possible if I had not removed your dampeners. Using an ice move, you can easily freeze Manaphy in such a way that he is not damaged by it. Humans refer to this as cryogenics. Manaphy would stay alive and you would be able to keep your ocean seeing as Manaphy's life and the ocean's existence are tied to one another. With Manaphy out of the picture, but alive, you would be free to rule the ocean as you wished. I promised you that no harm will come to Manaphy in doing this, I will even have him guarded by my newest dog" Ho-oh motioning towards the psychic mystery Pokémon that continued to keep them aloft.

Suddenly, something burst out from the ocean and sent any unfortunate Pokémon that were in that area of water flying. Before the figure collided with the rainbow legendary, it became outlined with the same psychic aura that Manaphy and Kyogre had around themselves. Standing before Ho-oh was the Guardian of the Seas: Lugia.

"Ah, the second legendary that I was hoping to find" Ho-oh said nonchalantly.

"Ho-oh!" Lugia bellowed. "Please tell me you have not done what I think you have done!"

Lugia visibly strained against his psychic bonds, unable to move a single millimeter out of place. He was only allowed the movements of breathing, blinking, speaking, and moving his eyes.

"Why yes. I have started the liberation of our species. I have decided that I will no longer continue that pointless charade you had me do for several years. If anything I surmise that you were merely attempting to stall me and buy time…for what I'm not sure," Ho-oh said dismissively.

"Release all of us this instant!" Lugia barked.

"You are in no position to be giving me orders, but as it so happens, I was planning to release Manaphy anyway. As for his fate; that is not for me to decide" Ho-oh clarified. Kyogre's body began to descend back towards the ocean with the utmost care as well as Manaphy. Lugia remained level with Ho-oh and the other Pokémon, watching as the ocean embraced the two water legendaries once more.

"Who is this?" Lugia asked, referring to the Pokémon that was currently restraining him, the psychic blue outlines disappearing from Kyogre and Manaphy.

"Do you like him? His name is Mewtwo. Humans created him in their attempt to modify Mew. I've decided to recruit him with my final creation orb, because unlike you, I do not waste precious gifts from Arceus", Ho-oh spat at Lugia, distaste evident in his voice.

"CREATING MY FAMILY WAS NOT A WASTE!" Lugia hollered with all his might, now livid with rage.

Lugia stared into the eyes of Mewtwo, finding them lacking the luster and vibrancy of life.

"You…you robbed him of his free will! YOU MONSTER!"

"You speak as if this creature has a soul. He was made by human hands, in a tube, not a womb. I found it fitting that a human creation be the very thing that ends up destroying them. I can debate as to whether he has a soul or not all day with you, but I have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment," Ho-oh replied. He then turned towards Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo, give Kyogre and Manaphy some room," Ho-oh asked Mewtwo.

The ocean of water Pokémon below Kyogre and Manaphy was abruptly pushed back, leaving an open circle of water for the two to float in.

"The rest lies with you Kyogre. I have given you the key, all that needs to be done now is to turn it and undo the lock. I would go as far as to say that it is your birthright to rule this ocean," Ho-oh reminded.

"Do not lis-" Lugia was abruptly cut off as his mouth was sealed shut by Mewtwo's psychic aura.

"I can understand if you're having doubts, but I must know one thing. When you had your dampener removed, did you come here searching for Manaphy of your own accord or was it because of responsibility. Did anyone in your ocean inquire as to whether or not you were well after having your dampener removed? I did at the beginning of our conversation. I can't help but notice that whenever you fought Groudon, there were no water Pokémon there to aid you, yet when Manaphy gets a headache, every Pokémon in the seven seas comes to check up on him." Ho-oh drove the final nails in.

There was no sound except for the gentle crashing of waves. Kyogre was torn in what he should do. He looked at Manaphy and heard Ho-oh's words echo through his mind. Over and over again.

In a flash, Manaphy was suspended within a pyramid of ice bobbing along the surface of the sea. Ho-oh's eyes began to glow with glee; Lugia closed his eyes in despair; his grunts of disapproval had fallen on deaf ears.

"Now my King of the Sea, I leave you to attend to your subjects and inform them of the new rules under your leadership" Ho-oh began to say his goodbyes. The surrounding Pokémon floated stiffly in the waters.

"Oh, don't try to free Manaphy now that you've frozen him. Seeing as his body is mostly water, trying to shatter the ice or thaw it in the improper way may have severe effects on his body that may be irreparable," Ho-oh warned.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of doing anything like that to our frozen friend" Kyogre chuckled, his focus now on the legions of Pokémon dumbstruck by what happened, unsure of what to do next in the face of the new ruler of the ocean.

* * *

Once they were several miles away from Kyogre's position, Ho-oh motioned for Mewtwo to stop. Below them was ocean, not like the miles of Pokemon back at the temple of the sea. Ho-oh turned towards the frozen Lugia, scowling at him with every iota of intense malice he possessed.

"What do you intend to do to me?" Lugia asked solemnly, "He could've killed Manaphy, Kyogre, and me at any moment."

"Due to our past history together, I am willing to show you mercy this one time. Make no mistake. If we are to meet again, I will be forced to kill you. What you do now is of no concern to me. Do not interfere with my goals and I shall not attack you. Go and hide, run to the ends of the earth, or find a manner of death that you believe will be most befitting of you" Ho-oh replied.

The glowing blue aura that outlined Lugia's body dimmed out of existence. Lugia rapidly flapped his wings to recover from the sudden descent; he had been freed without warning.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Lugia stared at Ho-oh with grim curiosity.

Ho-oh smiled and went on to explain his motives as he had done earlier with Mewtwo. It required all of Lugia's self-control to not attack Ho-oh on the spot, to end the rainbow legendary's life and relieve him of his madness.

"I know the look you're giving me as it was the same one that he gave me when I told him of my intentions," Ho- oh replied. He motioned towards Mewtwo, his visage expressionless.

"You've essentially killed him. Without any will of his own he is merely a shell," Lugia growled. He made no effort to disguise the repulsion he felt.

"I did not rob him of his free will; I merely used the orb of creation to turn him into my puppet. He is fully aware of what is going on at this very moment. He can perfectly hear our conversation and see us. His mind is still intact, but his body is no longer his own, it belongs to me and will follow any order I give it. Would you like me to demonstrate?" Ho-oh offered.

Mewtwo, as if rehearsed, made a psychic blade extend from his arm and swung the blade to his own throat, stopping only millimeters from the flesh.

"I can have him kill himself on a whim, his mind by now has many thoughts that he would like to voice, but is unable to. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to go through that. He cannot even shed a tear unless I tell his body to do so," Ho-oh gleefully chortled.

"Why not kill him then? Why prolong his suffering? I have never known you to take pleasure in the suffering of Pokémon, regardless of their origin. Has he wronged you so severely that he deserves this?" Lugia asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Aside from attempting to kill me when I told him my plan, he has not wronged me in any other way. I had considered eliminating him once he was on the brink of death at my feet, seeing as he is a perversion of nature, the pinnacle of humanity's insults towards our race. Yet, I stayed my claws and realized that it would be such a waste of resources to simply kill him. How poetic would it be for humanity's creation to be the very thing that wipes them off the face of the earth? He has already proved his usefulness in capturing Manaphy, putting him to sleep, and restraining you. He can only be free if he dies or I willingly release him, both of which I highly doubt will happen."

"You've become so distorted since that incident, that I cannot even recognize you as the same Pokémon I once knew. Madness has twisted you," Lugia declared. He shook his head sadly.

"You wound me Lugia. I have not been driven mad. My goal is noble. I simply mean to have nature reign, as it should. That is why I chose to let Manaphy live. His death would be detrimental to my plan for nature to thrive once more."

"You incarcerate him for being a possible blight in your utopia, a utopia stained with blood! You knew he would never agree to your plans!" Lugia countered.

"That no longer matters as what's done is done. You have failed and I have succeeded in getting closer to my goal. The difference between us is that I can command obedience where you cannot. I heard about that scuffle you had with your own three birds. If they truly respected you, they would have stopped instantly at your command like I know my dogs would have. Your birds may be powerful, but they are too impulsive. They allow themselves to be ruled by their emotions, rather than your commands. One would think that being bestowed that gift of power you gave them, they would be more grateful to you and obedient," Ho-oh replied scathingly.

"I do not intend to have everything around me completely obedient and under my control like you do. I simply let them live out their lives in the way that they see fit so that they may be happy," Lugia explained.

"And that my old friend is why you fail." Ho-oh shook his head and sighed.

"Do not refer to me as your friend!" Lugia barked.

"A small part of me had hoped that you would see my reasoning a join me, especially after what humans had done to you and your…family. A human attempted to collect you and your birds as if they were property. I saw that humanity allowed this transgression to go unchecked. Humans attempted to take away your child and use it for their own wicked ends. Humans found your brother and broke him down to the point where he had no emotions, and for what? So that they could utilize him as a weapon, not as a creature or an ally," Ho-oh squawked.

Lugia did not know what to say, what Ho-oh had said was true with regards to the actions that humans had taken. His eyes had become fixated on the waves that traversed the ocean's surface.

"Do not think for an instant that my judgments are skewed. I quickly gave up on looking for humans with pure hearts and decided to watch what they did to our world. You support humans, as I imagine several legendaries would for one reason which I am about to refute. As I watched the legendaries interact with humans, I noticed a pattern amongst almost all of them. They were all aided by the efforts of humans, but if humans had not been there in the first place, there would be no need to aid them at all. A human hunter chased and nearly killed Celebi, Latias lost her brother because a human stole what they were both guarding and nearly destroyed their home and Mew nearly lost his life because humans tampered with the Tree of Beginning. Should I continue? Shall I tell you the horrors I saw in the Orre region? Shall I speak of the past wars humans have had, using us as weapons?"

Lugia and Ho-oh remained silent, the only the sounds being the sound of their flapping wings and the salty wind.

"Ho-oh, what you say holds some truth to it, and in some aspects of it…I agree…," Lugia relented. Ho-oh's eyes sparkled with the hope that he would have another legendary join his cause.

"But I feel that you are going on about it the wrong way. There must be another way to deal with this problem. Can there be no spoken compromise between our species and theirs?" Lugia added, lifting his head up, his eyes no longer downcast. All that Lugia saw was the glimmer of hope in Ho-oh's eyes fade away and turn cold once more.

"There may be other alternatives, but this is the only right way to deal with this problem. Be gone Lugia, I shall not have you waste any more of my time. I have a lot to do and I no longer have anything to say to you," Ho-oh murmured disappointedly, turning his back on Lugia, Mewtwo doing the same.

"Remember my warning" was all that Ho-oh said before he burst off into the horizon, leaving an evanescent rainbow behind him and a burning blue aura beside him.

Lugia remained in the exact same spot for several minutes. He rationalized that he did that because of the shock, or that he needed the time to collect himself, or that he wanted to put as much distance between him and Ho-oh as possible before he started to move. Regardless of the reason, he stayed there for a good amount of time in silence.

Lugia was torn as he stared at the sea, feeling that it was now tainted by Kyogre's decision to join Ho-oh. Yet he needed to find his family, and to do this he would have to search the ocean currents for them.

He plunged into the opaque depths of the sea, hoping that the family he had created, like he had done with the legendary birds, was safe.

* * *

**I will explain the orbs of creation in the next chapter.**


	3. Mercury

**I don't know how you guys feel, but I'm sorry that so far these chapters with the legendaries have been just a bunch of debates. I'm guessing that with an arc all about the legendaries, you would expect huge epic battles, and to be honest, I did too. But I feel that some of the Legendary Pokemon too intelligent to rush into fighting. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter aside from the fact that I may have a few errors here and there which I will fix later on. By the way, if any of you understand the reason why I titled this chapter Mercury, then I will be impressed.**

* * *

Lugia's eyes illuminated the dark depths of the water that surrounded him, feeling that it was a proper allusion to the events that had just transpired. He felt that he was making good time, catching a ride on the undersea currents that sped him along the sea. He searched for his mate and child psychically, feeling the presence of dozens of other Pokémon. None of which were what he was looking for. The ocean was quiet, allowing him to easily calm down as he was now back in a setting he knew all too well, letting him think.

"_The choices I made with the orbs of creation are not ones that I would ever regret,_" Lugia reminded himself of Ho-oh's earlier insult, feeling his blood begin to boil amidst the cool waters of the undersea current he swam in.

* * *

The orbs of creation were something that Arceus had bestowed upon all of Pokémon known as Legendaries. Each Legendary received a different amount: six were given to Ho-oh and himself. Ho-oh had used three of them to save three Pokémon from a doomed fate. He had done something similar and created what was known as the three Legendary Birds while Ho-oh's creations were known as the three Legendary Beasts.

The orbs had the power to grant a wish, such as completely changing a Pokémon or giving them new powers and abilities. Ho-oh had used one of his orbs to remove the dampeners of all Pokémon. Knowing Ho-oh, Lugia knew that the change was permanent and with no loopholes.

The second orb that he had used was to take control of Mewtwo's body while leaving his mind and free will intact. As far as Lugia knew, Ho-oh had not used his last remaining creation orb, or had not revealed what he had done with it. As for Lugia, he had used his creation orbs a long time ago and despite the repercussions of using them, he did not regret his actions.

As Lugia traversed the ocean, every breath he took was a constant reminder that it was mercy alone that allowed him that breath. Although he was also a psychic Pokémon, Mewtwo's psychic abilities were frighteningly powerful. His psychic powers could not compete with power of that magnitude; the gap between them was too wide: Mewtwo had actually managed to immobilize him completely.

"_With Mewtwo in his arsenal, can anyone defeat him_?"

At that moment he sensed the presence of his child and his life mate. Apparently they had also noticed his coming as they sped towards him just as quickly as he did. He arched his back, heading straight for the surface. They followed him, asking no questions but puzzled as to why he could not speak to them below the water's surface. All three of them burst out of the water, Lugia smiling warmly to the miniature version of himself.

"You've grown in my absence," Lugia said, his child now the size of a Feraligatr.

"Father!" the smaller Lugia cried, approaching his father and nuzzling against him. Lugia returned the gesture, turning his gaze upon the tiny Lugia's mother, repeating the sign of affection with her as well.

"Are the two of you all right?" Lugia asked.

"We're okay now, but just a few hours ago we had this really painful headache and couldn't stop ourselves from unleashing our powers," Silver explained, the name that the tiny Lugia had adopted from the human called Oliver on Ogi Island.

"We were underwater so we did not cause too much destruction," Silver's mother said, attempting to alleviate Lugia's worries.

"We also heard this voice in our heads before we passed out. It said-" Silver began.

"I know what the voice said, the same has happened to me. I wanted to know if you two were safe," Lugia explained.

"Safe from what?" Silver inquired, looking around but seeing nothing but tranquil waters as far as the horizon.

Silver's father sighed, explaining what had transpired only a few hours ago. Ho-oh's plans, Kyogre's betrayal, Mew's cloning, Mewtwo's enslavement, and Manaphy's imprisonment. Lugia explained what had made Ho-oh become like he was now, telling them of the incident in Ecruteak with the tower.

"Were you not friends with Ho-oh?" Silver's mother asked, recalling that Lugia had mentioned something like that long ago.

"We _were_. But he is so different now; he is no longer the Pokémon that I once knew. The Ho-oh that was my friend has died, replaced with a cold, cruel, and manipulative individual. I have known Ho-oh long enough to tell when he was lying, and he has no intention of considering Kyogre a partner. Kyogre is just another pawn for Ho-oh to use so that he may fulfill his twisted dream."

"Father…what happens now?" Silver asked.

Lugia opened his mouth, but no sound came out, as if he forgotten speech itself. Lugia had not planned past finding his family and making sure that they were safe.

"I…do not know…" Lugia replied.

"What do you want to do?" Silver's mother asked, already knowing the answer that her life mate would give her.

"I…I don't…I refuse to let Ho-oh wipe out the humans. That much I know."

"Is it really our place to fight for these humans, to fight against other…was is it the humans call us…Legendaries?" Silver's mother said.

"Are you saying that you agree with Ho-oh's actions?" Lugia asked incredulously.

"Humans have harmed us and our son, but also helped us. Even you said that part of what Ho-oh said held some truth. If there were no humans, your three creations would not have quarreled amongst each other for territory; they would not have tried to capture our son," Silver's mother replied. The look in Lugia and Silver's eyes pained her, telling her that they felt betrayed.

"But…I do not agree with Ho-oh's methods. He may have had good intentions, but is going on about them the wrong way. I am just concerned, I do not know if it is truly our place to fight for the humans. Should we not let the humans deal with this themselves?" she added.

"How can you say that? As we speak, the wild Pokémon are possibly attacking the humans. They are outnumbered, more so now that the wild Pokémon have dwindled their numbers even further. If the roles were reversed, I know that the humans would do anything and everything to aid us!" Lugia countered.

"Entering this conflict may harm you…or our child."

"You could hide while I deal with this," Lugia suggested.

"What Ho-oh intends to do is to wage war against the humans, and you plan to wage war against him for the humans. We cannot remain neutral for long while you enter the fray. This battle will end up affecting every living creature on this planet, whether they choose to take part in this or not. Surely you don't intend to take on Ho-oh by yourself. You intend to involve the other Legendaries as well, don't you?" Silver's mother replied.

"Ho-oh has decided to change our world without even consulting us. He preaches that he is doing this for the Pokémon, if that were true then he would inform us before he did anything. He removed our dampeners without warning because he knew that we would never agree to his decision. We as Legendaries who guard, create, and travel this earth had a right to know about this. A decision of this magnitude should have been decided together. If I can gather enough legendaries to confront Ho-oh, maybe we can convince him to stop his plans for genocide of the human race. I do not wish for this to become a bloodbath for either species," Lugia argued.

"So you intend to find the other Legendaries? You intend to tell them what Ho-oh's plans are? What happens if they agree with Ho-oh? What will you do? Will you attack them so that they do not join his cause?" Silver's mother asked.

"I hope that it won't come to that. If it does, I don't know whether I would fight or flee. I don't want Ho-oh's forces to get any stronger than they already are now with Mew's clone and Kyogre, but I don't know if I could bring myself to fight them."

"Father, I can help. Tell me where to find one of these…Legendaries and I can help you do this in half the time."

"Son, I don't think-"

"Father! I want to do this. This is my world too, and I want to help. If they want to join Ho-oh then I'll run away," Silver said, his brown eyes showing not fear, but determination.

Silver switched his gaze between his mother and father, hoping that the visage of bravery he wore would convince them to let him go.

"Mom, you can't keep coddling me forever, especially now that there's a war coming. I'm not a baby anymore. How can I expect to live out in this world if you won't let me fly on my own?" Silver pleaded. The parents looked at each other in silence, their sights flitting from their son to each other. Suddenly, Lugia decided to break the silence.

"If we decided to let him go, I would send him to contact Latias. She is a very kind and gentle Pokémon and I don't believe that she would join Ho-oh. She lives as a guardian in a human settlement known by the humans as Altomare. It's in the ocean, so if she were to sympathize with Ho-oh's cause, then he could easily escape into the sea. I do not believe that she would be able to follow him and survive the depths of the ocean as he can."

Silver's mother did not look convinced, but closed her eyes in surrender. She drifted away from Silver, their eyes meeting. Silver noted the warm smile she bore, but noticed her eyes laced with worry. His father's expression was stern, but also full of worry, as if he didn't believe the reasons that he gave would insure his child's safety.

"Where do I go?" Silver asked eagerly in an attempt to appear ready and brave.

"…Altomare lies on the south-western coast of the region the humans refer to as Johto and in the south-eastern portion of the region called Hoenn by the humans" Lugia replied reluctantly, already regretting his suggestion.

"Where will we meet up?" Silver's mother asked.

Lugia told them the location of their meeting place, making sure they had it memorized.

"Okay, and if I get lost I'll just ask a nearby local Pokémon for directions" Silver replied, plunging into the ocean before his parents could say anything more or change their minds.

Lugia and Silver's mother let the echoing sound of Silver's departing splash resound within their mind for a few minutes.

"Where do you intend to go?" Silver's mother inquired.

"I plan to ask Celebi to join us. Then I plan to head over to the Orre region to take care of some unfinished business"

"Where should I go?"

Lugia stopped and stared at his life mate in shock. "You intend to help?!" he exclaimed.

"I do not plan to wait uselessly while the two of you are off. Allow me to aid you as our child has."

"I would prefer to not place you in any danger," Lugia said, attempting to dissuade her.

"I'm not as frail as you would imagine. Now tell me where I must go!" Silver's mother commanded.

Lugia sighed. "If you insist," he said. "You know where the islands that Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres inhabit?"

"I've lived in the this area long enough to know all the islands by heart," Silver's mother replied, sounding almost insulted at the thought of her not knowing her way around the Orange Islands.

"Ask them to join our cause, but once you're done with them, the difficult part comes into play. Feel free to decline."

Silver's mother shook her head. "I will follow through," she said resolutely.

"Very well. Rayquaza and Groudon also need to be informed. Their whereabouts are unknown to me as Rayquaza's domain is the entire sky while Groudon domain is the entire earth. Finding Groudon may be easier than Rayquaza. Usually Groudon is confined to one area and asleep so to heal and regain his strength from a previous battle with Kyogre," Lugia said. "Seeing as Kyogre has joined Ho-oh, Groudon will be opposed to Ho-oh as well and will join us easily. The removal of his dampener has probably caused him to awaken and possibly create a new volcano. Looking for one of those would be your best bet."

Lugia then looked at his mate with concern. "Are you positive you want to do this? There is no turning back," he said.

"There is no turning back what Ho-oh has done," Silver's mother replied.

"Rayquaza will be difficult to find as he wanders the earth's ozone layer. Entering his domain may prove difficult for you as the air is extremely thin and he may think you are invading his domain to take away some of his territory. Now make your decision."

"I will do what I can," Silver's mother replied. She turned to start off on her mission.

"Before I take my leave, what business brings you the Orre region?" Silver's mother asked.

Lugia paused for a long time before finally answering back.

"I need to speak to my brother," Lugia replied calmly.

Silver's mother's eyes widened instantly before she quickly turned her gaze to the ocean and hid her expression.

"Oh…then…be safe, and know that my heart will always be yours," was all she said before she too, plunged into the waters of the ocean.

Lugia sighed, diving into the waters and heading the opposite direction of his life mate, knowing what awaited him along the way would be arduous and painful.

* * *

Silver felt like he was making good time, adrenaline pumping through his veins from excitement and fear. He had never ventured so far away from his mother before; the sensation was exhilarating to say the least, but scary. He tore through the ocean with all of his strength, fatigue unable to catch up with him just yet.

The pressure of having the responsibility of a mission fueled Silver's desire to go faster. Every second that he spent was another second that Ho-oh could use to carry out his plans. It quickly occurred to Silver that he could move faster if he traveled through the air. As he reached the surface the black flaps on his back lifted off his body, slowing him down.

He burst out of the ocean with a splash, the black flaps on his back making it easier for him to ride the wind when they were open. Now that he was above the ocean, it would be easier for him to spot the city of Altomare. Silver wondered how he would even find Latias in a city full of humans.

Waiting until night for the humans to fall asleep was out of the question; it would give Ho-oh too much time. Yet, searching for her in broad daylight would get him noticed and possibly make him a target for humans to try and capture him.

"_Then again, with my dampeners off, I can fend them off and scare them away_," he thought.

His father was known for being able to flap his wings and create storms that lasted up to 40 days and those same wings could destroy houses with a single flap. Silver wasn't sure whether or not he was even capable of doing the same, but it was worth a shot.

Within an hour or so, Silver spotted a speck of green in the distance. As he drew closer, the buildings began to materialize in the hazy distance. Water canals ran through the island like streets in a city. The emerald green waves lapped against the edges, matching the vibrant green of the trees and foliage, the tops of the buildings themselves were also green.

The island was composed of mostly white stone buildings. Gondolas drifted through the waterways of the city, reminding Silver of the schools of water Pokémon he had seen swim en masse through the ocean. Everything seemed to be brimming with movement: people riding the gondolas, walking through the park, recreational activities and errands all around.

"_They probably have no idea what awaits their race, if they did, this peace would be traded in for chaos,_" Silver thought, slipping into the water canals of the city without a single splash.

"_Infiltration, successful,_" Silver gave a mental chuckle, glad that no one noticed him move through the sky and into the water. He swam past a school of Remoraid, quickly turning back and asking them if they had any idea of where he could find Latias. After ten minutes, Silver's patience was beginning to wear thin, he had been asking around for the location of Latias but was met with surprise of his existence and no knowledge of the whereabouts of Latias.

Silver burst out of the canals, the waves rocking nearby gondolas. A surprised rower on a gondola actually fell into the water. Silver decided to take a chance, making himself clearly noticeable. Every eye seemed to follow him as he made his way into a courtyard. He flapped his wings and gently touched down onto the courtyard, the gusts of wind almost knocked over several humans.

The surrounding whispers and murmurs of excitement gradually erupted into a deafening roar. Silver was on constant lookout, scanning the crowd for anyone that could potentially attempt to try and catch him.

"_Then again, I could easily deflect anything they throw at me with the twitch of my wings,_" He thought.

After five minutes Silver was beginning to get annoyed, the shock and awe around him did not seem to cease. The throng of chattering people around him grew thicker and louder. Atop the distant rooftop edges of the buildings he could see Murkrows, Butterfrees, and Yanmas, keeping their distance from the humans.

Silver closed his eyes, feeling the presence of everything around him. He scanned through the Pokémon on the outskirts of the courtyard, failing to find Latias there. As he searched around, something caught his eye. Directly before him, in plain sight, was an entity that did not fit.

Silver did a double take; his eyes now open, seeing before him only a human. He closed his eyes again, seeing the translucent apparition of a human frame; dwelling within it was Latias.

"_You can take the form of a human_!" Silver psychically cried in awe.

"_You can see me?!_" Latias replied psychically.

"_Yeah, I can see you. Please come with me, I need to talk to you_" Silver asked, jumping into the air. The thick ring of people cried in surprise at the sudden movement from Lugia, the gusts of wind in his wake making some people topple over. Latias remained in her human form, hesitant to transform amongst the humans. Her worried gaze shifted back and forth, her eyes finally lifted up to see Silver, glancing down at her expectantly.

She sighed and revealed herself to the denizens of Altomare, something that she hadn't done in years and had never expected to do. The human frame that Latias disguised herself in dissolved into evanescent cerulean dust and revealed her true form. Their reaction, to say the least, was amusing to Silver. As soon as they were aware of Latias' presence, everyone jumped away from her frightfully, giving her plenty of space.

She gently rose into the air before Silver before turning away from him.

"Follow me," she said solemnly, bursting forward through the skies above Altomare. Silver did as he was told, following her back into the water canals of the city and through an intricate route of twists and turns. Throughout the entire journey, Latias said not a single word to him, looking back not once to see whether he or not he was keeping up easily or following her.

In no time at all, they reached her secret garden, bursting out of a large pool of water fed by several streams of water from a fountain up above. The surrounding trees cast cool shadows that stretched across the ground. Cement pathways divided the sections of grass. Thick trees loomed over stone ornaments of different styles that were strewn across the garden. Stone bridges with arced structures could be seen bordering the garden. The large ponds were inhabited by multiple water Pokémon and the water's edge bordered by flowers. Yanma and Butterfree hovered over the ponds.

Silver landed on a grassy patch, the gusts of wind made the flaps within the stone structures spin frantically like pinwheels. Despite the fact that Silver was once more subjected to the gazes of dozens of eyes, he felt more comfortable with Pokémon being on the other end of that gaze.

"What do you want?" Latias asked, hovering over the grass before him.

Silver sensed something was troubling her, deciding to overlook it for now. To the best of his ability, Silver explained the situation with Ho-oh, the dampeners, and the human genocide. The surrounding Pokémon crowded around him and Latias in interest after overhearing him. Latias' expression of shock lingered upon her face even he had finished talking. She turned away from him, the sudden spasm she and the other Pokémon of Altomare had suffered through now made sense. Their frenzy had caused the people of Altomare to fear them.

"What does this have to do with me?" Latias inquired, turning back to face him.

"If we can gather up enough powerful Pokémon like you, we can confront Ho-oh and peacefully convince him to stop what he's doing," Silver explained.

At that moment, Silver sensed another presence appear within Latias' secret garden. Silver was instinctively on guard; he could sense and smell the presence of a human. A girl rapidly approached them with her brown hair flowing behind her, her pink sneakers loudly crushing the grass upon the ground.

Silver stared in bewilderment, the girl looked exactly like Latias' human disguise that he had seen only minutes ago. They had the same hairstyle, aqua blouse, white miniskirt, and long black socks; she was almost identical, down to the smallest detail. The look in her eyes was fierce, as if she were ready to challenge Silver to a battle.

A short and portly man stopped behind her, he was hunched over and holding himself up by his knees, sweating and panting from exhaustion. He wore blue jean overalls with a crimson shirt underneath. A white scruffy beard and mustache took over half of his face. His wide eyes looked up at Silver, lacking the bold determination of the girl, but instead having the same awe as Silver's earlier human audience. They had heard about the incident in the courtyard, the word quickly spreading throughout all of Altomare. As soon as they heard what had happened, they ran to the where Latias usually resided.

"Bianca! Lorenzo!" Latias exclaimed at their appearance.

"Friends of yours?" Silver asked, keeping his guard up just in case.

"Yes," Latias quickly replied, Silver then turned his attention to them.

"Don't worry. I mean Latias no harm and I have no intention of hurting any humans or Pokémon in this city," Silver announced, causing the girl's expression to change into that of amazement.

"You can talk!" Bianca cried out.

"Yeah."

"What do you want with Latias?" Bianca demanded, her defiant attitude returning.

Silver sighed, not wanting to have to repeat himself but finding it necessary.

"A really powerful Pokémon has declared war on humans, and Pokémon like me who like humans are trying to band together to see if we can peacefully convince this powerful Pokémon to stop. We need Latias to leave with us right now if she wants to help us save the humans," Silver explained, hoping that his abridged explanation would work.

"I want to save the humans but…" Latias trailed off, pausing as she turned and stared at Bianca and Lorenzo, unable to decipher what she had said.

"What about the Soul Dew?" Bianca replied.

"The what?" Silver inquired.

"The Soul Dew is the power source for Altomare's defense mechanism. Latias is its guardian, for if it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used to destroy this entire area with its power to control the water," Lorenzo explained.

"That's nothing compared to what humans as a whole will face if Latias doesn't join us.".

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence amongst the four.

"Can't someone take over for Latias while she's gone? This would only be temporary. Hopefully we can settle this quickly and we could send Latias back here. We don't expect her to fight or anything, we just need her to be there," Silver said, trying his best to convince them.

"It's not up to us. The final decision rests with Latias," Lorenzo replied.

"Grandpa!" Bianca cried out, feeling somewhat betrayed.

Silver turned his eyes back to Latias, knowing now that she had to make a choice. Latias closed her eyes, drifting over to Bianca and Lorenzo, giving them both a warm embrace before moving over to Silver's side.

The crowd of Pokémon that inhabited the garden was still there, listening intently.

"In my place, please help guard Altomare and the Soul Dew. The people here have always lived peacefully alongside you. Protect them, this city, and the Soul dew while I'm gone. Spread the word," Latias said before ascending into the air and diving into the fountain that led into the city's canals; Silver was not far behind.

Bianca and Lorenzo simply stood there, letting it sink in that Latias was leaving Altomare. They did not understand what Latias had said.

The Pokémon of the garden scattered to the winds with a unified mind and purpose. They would carry the message of Latias to every corner of Altomare. The humans had become wary and concerned about them. Only a few hours ago something had told them to kill all the humans and to take the world for themselves; but the humans of Altomare had been nothing but kind to them. Until Latias returned, they would take up the role of being the silent guardians of Altomare. Regardless of the fear they had instilled into the people due to their undampened frenzy, they would now watch over Altomare with hundreds of pairs of eyes.

Lorenzo turned, resting his hand on Bianca's shoulder as she turned to him.

"Latias will be fine," he said reassuringly, his wide eyes full of hope. Bianca turned her attention back to the fountain.

"Know this, Bianca. If Latias did not care about our safety and well being, then she would have stayed," Lorenzo added, now staring at the fountain as well.

* * *

Silver followed Latias through the canals that she knew like the back of her hand. Once again, Silver felt like he was being subjected to the silent treatment. He sped up, swimming at her side.

"Are…are you angry with me?" Silver asked.

"No…it's just…brother and I worked so hard to stay unseen by the people of this island," Latias replied.

"Oh…," was all Silver could say. It was his fault that she had to reveal herself to the people.

"Wait! You have a brother?" Silver exclaimed, thinking that he could add another to their cause.

"Yes, well…I had a brother. He died a few years ago when some bad humans tried to take the Soul Dew. My brother died trying to save Altomare and its people; he would want me to join you and save the humans of this world," she said somberly. Silver decided he would no longer speak unless spoken to, feeling that he had made the situation more uncomfortable than before.

They made their way to the edge of Altomare, Latias suddenly stopped at its border. Silver had gone ahead by a little, sensing her absence and turning to see her stare at him. He was about to ask if she was okay, but stopped himself, knowing that would've been a stupid question to ask. She was leaving a home that she had known for years to go into an unknown world.

He was patient, giving her time to say her inner silent farewells. Her gold eyes stared intently at her home. She bobbed within a sea of blue; her crimson and white body was nothing like Silver had ever seen before. She turned to him, her arms pressed to her sides to make herself more streamlined. Silver pressed the black flaps on his back to achieve the same purpose.

Latias suddenly shot past Silver without warning, though it wasn't difficult for him to catch up.

Once they were far enough away from Altomare they burst out of the waters and went faster. Latias began to slow down and eventually stopped, turning her head to give Altomare another look.

"This is the furthest I've ever been away from home," Latias mumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better…this is my first time as well. I've always lived by the Orange Islands. The rest of the world will be new to the both of us," Silver said, trying to console her. If he did, she said nothing as she stared at Altomare for another few seconds before turning towards him.

"All right, where are we going?" Latias asked, determined not to look back and trying to sound ready to take on whatever this journey threw at her.

Silver thought back to the directions his father had given him earlier.

"I think the place we're heading to…I think it's called…The Tree of Beginning," he replied.

* * *

**Next, Chapter 4: Bros Before Ho-oh**


	4. Bros Before Hooh

**Major thanks to Jakayrta for this chapter.**

* * *

Night had descended upon the barren land of Orre; Lugia's shadow seamlessly melded into the darkness. He periodically turned his sights to the heavens and back to the ground. To him, it seemed as though every grain of sand was paired with a star in the night sky.

Lugia felt that he had left the sea to enter two oceans: one of stars and darkness and one of sand and shadows. Towers of stone jutted out of the earth like jagged fangs, randomly piercing the desolate wasteland. The moon overhead cast a watery light giving the rocks and sand a light grey tint not unlike that of the sterile lunar plains.

Lugia couldn't help but worry for the fates of his son and his mate, hoping that no harm had come to them. The thoughts continued to echo in Lugia's mind, to the point where he tried to distract himself with other thoughts. As he looked to the ground he couldn't help but wonder.

_Brother…did you hate me so much that you exiled yourself to this place? You traded the sea for this desert, for the sole purpose of not having to be near an ocean that contained my existence. It's been years since I've seen him. I can only hope that his rage towards me has lessened_. Lugia thought as he reached the side of a mountain, the vibrant green foliage like a beacon in the desolate night.

Lugia closed his eyes, feeling the presence of weathered souls, sleeping soundly in their dwellings. Trees embraced the open air, their roots extending past the earth and hanging off the edges. A river of water ran through the village and pooled around it, the roar of water from the waterfall masked the sounds of his arrival.

He swooped down, bowing his head as not to hit the wooden bridge above him. A stream was flowed from the gaping dark maw of what seemed like a cave, where the walls were roots from the towering tree above. Lugia made his way through the darkness, barely having enough room to move as he maneuvered through the roots that weaved themselves through the tunnel.

Eventually, Lugia made his way out onto a stone pathway with a column on the center of a cog-like stone platform. An emerald glow radiated from the column, sitting upon it was Celebi. Her baby blue eyes, bordered by black rings stared expectantly at Lugia; the only sign she gave of acknowledging Lugia's presence was the slight flutter of her short, transparent wings. He was going to open his mouth to speak but Celebi had already started speaking.

"I've been expecting you," Celebi said, surprising Lugia.

"You have?" Lugia replied with equal surprise.

"Yes." Celebi said. "Well, actually we've technically had this conversation before," she hastily added.

"How is that-" Lugia's words died on his lips as Celebi spoke.

"I can travel through time."

"Then…we've already spoken?"

Celebi nodded.

"You know everything that I am going to say?" Lugia asked.

Celebi nodded again, giving a curt and sheepish smile.

"Then…will you join us?"

Celebi stared at him for a long time, finally closing her eyes before shaking her head.

Lugia's eyes widened; he was struck dumb by her gesture. Finally, he willed his vocal cords to speak. "Y…You sympathize with Ho-oh!?" he asked, his voice neutral but a slight accusing tone was evident.

Celebit shook her head. "No. I won't be participating in this war," she replied simply.

"For what reason?" Lugia roared back.

"I've never appeared in times of war and I do not plan to start now. I travel through time, but I'm not permitted to play a role in major events where I would be able to alter the course of history. Because, as you can see-"

A golden portal appeared to the left of Celebi, still seated on the stone column. Another Celebi appeared beside her.

"-This is me from an hour ago-" the Celebi from the golden portal said.

Another golden portal appeared from the right of Celebi.

"-And this is me in an hour" said the Celebi to the right.

"As you can see, I can come from any time," said the Celebi from the present.

"Even if I were to die-," said the future Celebi.

"I would still live, and as long as an earlier version of myself exists in time" the past Celebi added.

"I could summon a hundred versions of myself with my with my future selves knowing about this moment and coming to my aid. My future selves could also go into the past and alert the 'me' from the past of my current situation. With the dampeners removed, Psychic types are some of the strongest types on the planet now. So as you can see, it would be easy to change the course of history with a psychic army made up of myself. With our combined psychic attacks, we could easily overpower Ho-oh and Mewtwo," Celebi said

The future and past Celebis returned to their times through the golden portals that reopened behind them.

"The only reason I stayed here was to tell you that I was leaving and a few other things as well," Celebi said.

"Such as?" Lugia growled. He knew he was defeated.

"I'll save you the grief of experiencing for yourself that your little legendary alliance won't stop Ho-oh, he will not be dissuaded. War is coming to this planet, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it."

Lugia flinched; every one of her revelations felt like Giga Impact after Giga Impact. Celebi gave a pitying stare and paused, giving a sigh and continued speaking; Lugia's head remained bowed in defeat.

"I've…taken the liberty of telling the other legendaries you haven't spoken to, the ones that will join you, to head over to the Tree of Beginning. I can also tell you the location of your brother a few hours from now," Celebi said.

Lugia raised his head, grateful for the help, but unable to shake away the feeling that he had already lost. Celebi's words had dashed any hopes he'd had of avoiding war against Ho-oh. The best he could do was to prepare for the war that was already upon the world and mitigate the damage as best he could. As surely as the sun rose, as surely as the tides ebbed, this war will drown the world in blood.

"Is there anything else that you can do to help us?" Lugia begged.

"I've already done you a lot of favors…but I can do two more things for you. I can save two creatures: a Pokémon and a human," Celebi said.

"Which ones?"

Celebi paused, staring off into the sky as if she were watching something. Within a few seconds she turned her sights back to Lugia.

"You'll see…in time. By now the past and future version of myself will have already saved them. They aren't important enough that they could change the outcome of this war, but they will help. Just know that if they are to die again in this war, then that is to be their fate," Celebi said.

"Will I ever know who it is that you saved?" Lugia asked.

"Probably not."

Lugia sighed. Celebi's cryptic answers were starting to irritate him. "Do…Do you know the outcome of this war?" he asked.

Celebi stared off into space again, the stars staring back at her. After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity to Lugia, she spoke.

"…Yes," Celebi replied softly, her gaze still fixed on the starry night sky.

Celebi's eyes eventually tore away from the starry heavens and now rested on Lugia. She gave a weak smile and a golden portal appeared just below Celebi's dangling legs. She slipped off her stone seat with ease, falling into the portal feet first. Just before she completely passed through the portal, Celebi quickly spilled the future whereabouts of Lugia's brother. Lugia watched helplessly as Celebi disappeared before his eyes; the green glow around the column dimmed and flickered out in her absence.

* * *

Dawn had broken through the veil of night, sunlight washing over the sand like a flood. The sun illuminated the floor's features, revealing the arid and cracked floor that was hidden by nightfall. The ground appeared so infertile that Lugia couldn't help but wonder how anything could have survived these harsh conditions.

Lugia was already beginning to feel the waves of heat at the daybreak. Although finding his brother at night would have been more difficult, he was already wishing for the night's cool embrace. Celebi's parting words had left Lugia a lot to think about as well as a lot to worry about.

He gazed down the now empty root tunnel and spotted a dark speck in the distance. He sped out of the root tunnel, heading for the speck. As he drew closer, he recognized it as the broken down vehicle that the humans referred to as a steam engine. At first, its presence seemed random; a rusted steam engine out in the middle of the wasteland and miles away from any tracks. But as Lugia drew closer and closed his eyes, he sensed the presence of several humans taking shelter from the heat inside the metal monster. People came and went as they pleased, revealing that this was no home, but a rest stop for weary travelers to eat, rest, be entertained, and restock before returning to their travels.

Lugia was too high up for anyone to see him as he pushed forward through the sky. If Celebi was right - which Lugia suspected she was - then he would find his brother if he continued to fly past the wrecked locomotive. As he flew, Lugia turned and flew upside-down, letting the sun hit his underside as his back cooled.

_Could my brother have willingly lived under these conditions_? Lugia thought, switching positions as soon as one side became cool and the other too hot.

As soon as his thought ended, Lugia noticed a silver speck in the distance. Had he not been sensing for a presence, he might have missed it. He opened his eyes, the silver almost blending seamlessly into the cerulean sky that carried no shading clouds.

Lugia flapped his wings even faster to catch up with what could've possibly been his brother; the gusts rocked the steam engine far behind him. As Lugia drew closer, the features of the silver figure became clear and Lugia suddenly felt as if he were looking into a mirror. His brother turned to see what was coming up behind him, his eyes widened instantly in shock and gradually narrowed into a hard glare.

Lugia's heart began to beat faster as he felt nervous about what would happen next, seeing as he had not seen his brother in years. His brother's enraged and quivering eyes rested on him for only a few seconds before rapidly turning away from him. The distance between them grew larger as Lugia's brother increased in speed, dismissing Lugia as if he were another mirage fabricated by the heat of the wasteland.

"Brother! Wait!" Lugia cried out.

At the mention of the first word, Lugia's brother whirled around quickly and scowled at Lugia.

"Do not refer to me as your brother. You are dead to me and I have ceased to see you as my brother for years now!" Lugia's brother spat.

"I'm sorry to hear that bro…then…what do I call you?" Lugia asked

"Do what you want, I don't care. What do I owe this visit?" Lugia's brother said, his voice dripping with venom.

Lugia hesitated, planning his next words carefully. "I wanted to know if you were all right. Yesterday, Ho-oh did something that caused all the Pokémon on the planet to go into a frenzy," Lugia said. He hoped that his brother didn't sense that he was concealing something more. Technically, Lugia was telling the truth.

"You lie. Not once in all these years have you even bothered to come this far to look for me! It's a little too late to see if I am all right! You were off by a few years. No…you want something?" Lugia's brother said mockingly. "Something from me? Isn't that right? Please tell me if I'm getting warmer. Oh, let me guess…" Lugia's brother said with a smirk. His voice still carried the icy, mocking tone from before. "You intend to take back the creation orb that you used to create me!" he shouted, his voice switching from icy and mocking to outright hateful.

"Never! I would never take away your right to exist and live in this world" Lugia replied. He was not only repulsed but shocked at the very idea that his own brother thought so low of him.

"YOU NEVER CONSIDERED MY RIGHTS WHEN YOU USED THE LAST ORB FOR YOURSELF!" Lugia's brother screamed. Razor-edged winds began to stir around him; the scimitars of wind threatened to tear the landscape asunder.

Lugia had no counter argument. He stayed silent and looked away in shame.

"How is your little brat, eh? Must be nice being a father and all? But I wouldn't know what that feels like, now would I?" Lugia's brother spat. Every word oozed venom and hatred.

Lugia looked up and stared into his brother's eyes, pained to feel the resentment that filled them and gazed back at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but his brother cut him off.

"Don't bother. I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. Stop wasting my time and say what you wanted to tell me in the first place. You've already ruined my day. Hell, I want to congratulate you for doing a good job ruining the life you gave me," Lugia's brother said. Each word stung Lugia like so many Pin Missiles. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind you unmaking me. At least I wouldn't exist and have to be reminded how shitty my life was and will be!" he said bitterly.

Lugia was silent, feeling guilty for all the sorrow he had caused his brother. Now more than ever he wanted to take away all of his suffering and see him happy, even if it meant that he had to shoulder those hardships. His brother was right; he had not shown any signs that he had cared for his brother's well being until now. He had only heard rumors of the horrors his brother had suffered while he stayed in the Orre region, unsure whether or not any of them were true.

Lugia's brother's patience was already worn thin, unwilling to bear the silence and being in the same region as his brother.

"You have ten seconds to tell me whatever it is you want to tell me and for me to listen to it," Lugia's brother said, already turning around to fly away from the area.

Lugia started, then stopped before starting once more while feebly chasing after his brother who was already making the distance between them longer and longer. He quickly realized that his brother would not give him any more time to speak other than now.

"I…I need your help. Ho-oh is declaring war against the humans and he's gathering many strong Pokémon to join his cause. I can't stand by and let this happen so I'm gathering many powerful Pokémon who sympathize with my cause and are willing to fight against this with me in the upcoming war. Having you with us would greatly improve our chances of stopping Ho-oh," Lugia said.

Lugia's brother suddenly stopped and turned in his direction with a disapproving frown. "I knew it. You would never have come to look for me unless you needed me for something. Typical," he growled.

"Don't you understand!? Ho-oh is planning on wiping out the entire human race. He's planning a mass genocide. That frenzy he caused every Pokémon has made them all stronger. Strong enough to allow them all to kill a human being or each another!" Lugia cried.

From the expression on his brother's face, Lugia felt that the last sentence had finally gotten through to him.

"Mass genocide?" Lugia's brother repeated softly, as if the word had finally sunk in.

"Yes, on all the humans. Good or bad, he plans to wipe them all off the face of the Earth," Lugia explained.

Lugia's brother thought back to the voice in his head that he had heard the day before in the midst of his pained tantrum. At first he thought that it was shadow version of himself coming back to haunt him, so he disregarded it. If anything, it made him scared to think that the darkness inside him was coming back.

When he awoke, he felt more powerful and that all of his senses had been heightened. He felt that if any of these changes were signs of the shadow version of himself making a comeback, he would rejected them all. He wasn't sure if it was even possible to revert back into Shadow Lugia, but he had never thought it possible to convert into a shadow anything in the first place.

"Where's this Ho-oh?" Lugia's brother asked, bold determination stood where anger once rested.

"I know what you plan to do, but you cannot go face him alone. I tried and out of mercy alone, he let me live. The Pokémon allied with him already are too powerful to take on unless we unite and combine our strengths against him," Lugia said.

"_You know_ what _I_ plan to do? YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! How could you know, we haven't seen each other in years. While you were playing 'Guardian of the Sea' and father and husband, I was tortured to the point where I had no emotions and began attacking humans!" Lugia's brother roared.

"I'm sorry that-"

"Don't give me that shit! You're not actually sorry and I don't want to hear it from you! You've made assumptions without even actually knowing what I plan to do!" Lugia's brother said, chuckling near the end.

Lugia's eyes widened in horror. He could only get out a single word. "..No!" he said. He gulped. "N…No! You can't!" shouted.

"You can't tell me what I can and cannot do! But yes. I can and I will join Ho-oh!" Lugia's brother said.

"If this is out of spite, I implore that you reconsider. Let us settle this here with-"

"SPITE! Ha! Is that what you think this is? Does it even register in the brain of yours that I might possibly agree with what Ho-oh is trying to do? This has nothing to do with spite! Humans captured me and tortured me and then I was caught again and purified until I was eventually released. In the end, the suffering that the humans have caused me outweighs the good that was done. What happened to me I do not wish on any other Pokémon, and yet the humans attempted to do it to several! It's this kind of thing that merits the destruction of the human race! They were asking for it! If there were no humans in the first place, I might have lived my life here peacefully without the scars to show for what I lived through!" At this point Lugia's brother was screaming madly. He chuckled coldly at the end of his rant.

"But there...that look on your face is priceless and almost makes up for you ruining my day. That face tells me so many things, like how you feel so betrayed and are in such disbelief of my actions. Yet, could you really have expected anything less, after what's been done to me? Your judgment and reasoning has been clouded by that feeble optimism! You thought I would join you because of our supposed kinship, because I'm your brother?" Lugia's brother said. His voice carried so much hatred and revulsion that it almost brought tears to Lugia's eyes which only served to please Lugia's brother even further.

Lugia had no words for what was happening, his saddened visage continued to stare at his brother.

Lugia's brother smirked and began to leave in the direction where his brother had come from. He had only made as far as a few meters when Lugia turned and called out to him.

"Wait, you can't do this!" Lugia shouted.

"I can and I will! This Ho-oh seems to have the right idea, and if I do join him, what will you do about it? Will you fight me? Kill me? Unmake me by taking back your creation orb? If you do that I'll just be one less thorn in your side, and the best part of me no longer existing is that I wouldn't have to see you anymore!" Lugia's brother spat.

"You don't mean that…you can't mean that…broth-" Lugia never finished that sentence. His brother's wing slammed into his face, sending his body flying through several pillars of stone. Rows of the top halves of the stone structures slid off the crumbling bases, kicking up clouds of dust.

"I told you not to call me 'brother'. Don't assume you know anything about me, because you don't!" Lugia's brother said, turning away from the scene of destruction and continuing down the path towards Ho-oh. Lugia suddenly appeared above his brother, his body glowing.

Lugia's brother sensed Lugia's presence but couldn't see where he was. With Sky Attack, Lugia had pinpointed his brother's blind spot and dove in to strike. The blow sent Lugia's brother plummeting through the air towards the ground. With a single flap, he stopped only inches from the ground. Waves of sand carried by the wind were being flew in all directions. Tiny shadows dotted the floor around Lugia's brother.

Lugia's brother burst upward, the levitated stones from Lugia's Ancientpower that were surrounding him colliding where he was only an instant ago. A torrent of water from his brother's Hydro Pump nearly punched a hole through Lugia had he not dodged in time.

Lugia's brother followed Lugia with his eyes, turning a shade of purple. Sensing what his brother intended to do, Lugia spun around rapidly. Gales of wind swirled around Lugia's body, creating a tornado that carried the surrounding sand and hid him from sight. Extrasensory was deadly for the sole reason that it made the target's body extremely sensitive to light, touch, smell, taste, and hearing to the point where it became a blinding pain.

The brief seconds of protection that Lugia had within the sandstorm allowed him to think. His brother did not know all the details on the creation orb that was used to make him. Technically Lugia could take back the creation orb, but there was a catch that his brother was not aware of; Lugia was planning to keep it that way. To take it back, he would need the willing consent of his brother. It was that or killing him.

Lugia soared up the tunnel of wind, his brother at the mouth of the vortex already waiting for him. Both of them flapped their wings, from outside a bulbous pocket of air enlarged within the tornado until it burst and sent the swirling airborne sand raining across the desert. Lugia's eyes burned as the grains of sand ground at his eyes, trapped behind the fleshy barriers that were his eyelids. If he found any pleasure, it was that his brother was probably feeling the same sensation. At the cost of his own sight, he had made it so that his brother's vision was also compromised. Now his brother would be unable to do Extrasensory.

They were not completely blind; they could use their psychic abilities to get a feeling for their surroundings and each other's presence. The two of them circled each other before facing off with several meters between them. With all the strength in their wings they beat against the air and launched it at each other.

The sea of sand swirled around them, tsunamis of sand rolled across the wastes. Wind alone toppled the great stone structures that jutted out of the ground. Eventually a giant cyclone of sand enveloped the scene of battle. From miles away, others watched the spectacle of the spinning column of desert, daring not to approach the grinding sand barrier.

Within the eye of the maelstrom, neither Legendary allowed themselves to be moved by the other's gales. The frantic flapping of their wings ended; the walls of sand gradually grinding to a halt and shifting back to the ground. Both Lugias opened their mouths simultaneously and prepared their ultimate attacks.

An Aeroblast erupted from each maw, bridging the distance between the silver legendaries in an instant. A spherical shockwave caused the ground around them to cave into an immense crater. Both Lugias were sent tumbling through the air, gritting their teeth as the force of their attack's collision shook them to the bone.

The steam engine, once rooted to the dry earth beneath it, tumbled across the desert, accompanied by the screams of the people inside. Stone structures were shaken down to rubble; the surging spray of sand capable of killing something upon impact. Deep cracks like a Spinarak's web marked the crumbled crater where the Aeroblasts connected a mile above the earth.

Lugia managed to right himself, sensing that his brother had done the same. He waited for his brother to make the next move, but nothing happened. The silence made him nervous. He felt like his brother was plotting something. Then, against all of Lugia's expectations, his brother turned and continued on his way towards the ocean in hopes of finding Ho-oh.

All of this he could psychically sense from where he floated. He quickly flew in pursuit of his brother, making sure to keep his distance in order to be able to dodge or counter anything his brother could suddenly throw at him. Suddenly, Lugia's brother stopped, speaking out loud without so much as looking at Lugia.

"What do you plan to do? Fight me until I die? We're evenly matched. If this goes on any longer we'll both end up dying. Are you sure you want to keep fighting now?" Lugia's brother asked, motioning towards the overturned steam engine below.

Lugia sensed the injured humans crawling out of it and onto to the sand. The sand was stained red with the blows they sustained within the tumbling vehicle.

_He's using the humans as an excuse to get away_ Lugia thought. He knew that if they fought now, above the humans, there would be deaths.

"If you really want me to join you so badly… then you should up the ante," Lugia's brother suggested.

"What do you want?" Lugia asked.

"Why, the very thing you denied me all those years ago,"

Lugia simply gawked at his brother's request, knowing instantly what he wanted. What was being asked of him was something that he could not even begin to consider.

"YOU WANT ME TO GIVE YOU MY MATE!?" Lugia bellowed.

"No, more. I want you to kill your child as well. Maybe then you'll have a just taste of the suffering I went through," Lugia's brother added.

"You ask the impossible."

"I ask for what should have been my right. Instead of giving me a mate of my own with the last creation orb, you decided to give your own mate the ability to procreate. I know it's pointless to ask for your mate, you created her to love you but not me, which is why if I ever had her, I would kill her in front of you and make you watch," Lugia's brother replied.

There was a moment of silence, the humans below them rested on their backs, seeing the architects of the destruction witnessed only moments ago.

"You may agree with Ho-oh's goal, but his methods are twisted. He's used one of his creation orbs to essentially rob the free will of a Pokémon," Lugia said, making one last desperate attempt to dissuade his brother from joining Ho-oh, hoping that the mention of Ho-oh's action would disgust his brother and change his mind about Ho-oh.

"Hmph…no different than what you did with your mate, creating her to love you. No chance to decide for herself who she wanted to be with. I'd rather ally myself with Ho-oh than be with you. If we fight again, we'll kill each other in the process unless I have help, and from what you've told me, I think I'm on the winning side, while you have your mate and your son," Lugia's brother said, flying off as fast as he could.

Lugia used Recover, healing his burning eyes and bruises. By the time he was done, his brother was already long gone and too far away to follow. Nothing could shake the feeling that he had utterly failed in his own mission. The future for humans was not looking bright as Ho-oh was getting the upper hand. Lugia could only hope that his son and mate had fared better on the tasks he had assigned to them.

* * *

**Finally, it's been a while since I've written a fight. It's short but it was still a fight worthy of legendaries.**


	5. Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

**Sorry for being gone so long. All lot of things have been happening as of lately. On April 26, a really close friend of mine was killed in a car crash. I want to dedicate something to him, but this chapter doesn't seem to be enough. I plan to do something for him in the future, but for what I have planned, it's still long ways off. **

**Also a lot of thanks to Jakayrta for his contribution to this chapter and the others.  
**

* * *

Ho-oh glowered at the waters below him; his shimmering reflection glowering back. He attempted to banish from his mind the thoughts that dwelled with Lugia's refusal to join him. His eyes opened, scanning the seas for something to distract him.

It wasn't long before Ho-oh and Mewtwo found themselves before Kyogre and the bobbing, frozen form of Manaphy. The multicolored sea that consisted of a plethora of Pokémon had now disappeared. Mewtwo created a psychic platform for Ho-oh to rest on while he himself was left to float.

"That was rather quick," Kyogre said, his eyes remaining level with the sea.

"What troubles you?" Ho-oh asked, hoping that Kyogre wasn't regretting what he had just done.

"It seems as though I do not control as much of the sea as I would like."

"What do you mean?" Ho-oh asked.

"I had told the Pokémon of the sea that they are now under my command. I reminded them that I created the ocean and that they owed their lives to me. I reminded them of how the humans hunted them, captured them, and ate them without any sign of ceasing their genocide. I won almost all of them over with their anger towards the humans; what I said was not a lie," Kyogre replied.

"But…" Ho-oh added, his voice trailing off.

"But…the Tentacool, Tentacruel, and their ilk have announced their neutrality."

"They side with the humans?" Ho-oh replied. He was actually surprised that the wild Pokémon would not side with him.

"No. They hold no love for humans but they refuse to join us. They will attack anyone who bothers them, regardless of what species. They refuse to bow to my rule," Kyogre said.

"Where does this audacity come from?" Ho-oh growled. His shock had changed into anger at the gall the Tentacool and Tentacruel had to go against Kyogre, but more importantly, to go against him.

"They would not speak out against me if they did not feel they could challenge me and win. Tentacools and Tentacruels make up the 60% of the inhabitants of my ocean; they can breed quickly in times of battle and develop their combat capabilities at an early age. If I were to war against them now, they would overwhelm me by sheer numbers and win. In a best-case scenario, we can only hope they wipe each other out. In the end, it would be best to avoid conflict with them until we can persuade them to join our crusade,"

"How organized can they be?" Ho-oh pressed on, hoping to find some sort of weakness that he could exploit.

"They are quite organized. They signal through lights that can travel through the water regardless of the time of day," Kyogre replied.

"Do they serve some kind of leader or king? Cut off the head of an Ekans and the rest of the body dies."

"I am not completely sure about their caste system. I do not know if they answer to one leader or many leaders. With all due respect your plan will not work. Killing their leader or even simply killing a regular Tentacool will only instigate a war between us. We shall benefit most by not instigating any aggression from the Tentacools and Tentacruels," Kyogre said.

Ho-oh desperately tried to quell the rage building inside him. Not winning meant a loss, even if it was a stalemate. He had half a mind to send Mewtwo to wipe them all out - he was sure that his new puppet was capable of that - but he quickly erased the thought. Having Mewtwo under his absolute control was starting to corrupt him with the sheer power at his disposal.

_Just because something is not working with my plan doesn't mean I can simply kill it. This mentality will end up creating an imbalance in the ecosystem. Now with the dampeners removed, poison Pokémon are a force to be reckoned with. Mewtwo could eliminate most of them, but the slightest mistake or lack of focus on his part would spell the end_ Ho-oh thought. He decided that leaving the Tentacool and Tentacruel to their own devices was a prudent measure for the time being.

Ho-oh turned to Mewtwo. "Return Manaphy to his 'quarters'," Ho-oh ordered

There was no sign that Mewtwo heard or even acknowledged what was being said to him. The only sign that Mewtwo complied was a simple lifting of his hand. A cerulean aura outlined Manaphy's frozen prison and submerged it into the waters below. In minutes, Manaphy was inside the crystal chamber in the Temple of the Sea.

"Will you keep an eye on the Tentacruel and Tentacool?" Ho-oh asked. He was fairly certain that Kyogre had thought of this himself but it never hurt to ask.

"As best as I can," Kyogre replied. However, he did not promise anything.

"Good," Ho-oh said calmly, pressing the matter no further as there wasn't more that he could ask of Kyogre in that situation. "I would ask you to follow me then. There is the next phase in my plan to defeat the humans that I must attend to, and your assistance would be appreciated."

Kyogre nodded and followed Ho-oh and Mewtwo, finding it rather difficult to keep up with them. The entire veil of the ocean could not hide Kyogre's embarrassment or cool the burning shame he felt when Ho-oh and Mewtwo were forced to slow down and wait for him. Ho-oh offered to have Mewtwo lift him and fly along with them until their destination. Although Kyogre was not comfortable of taking flight, he relented for the sake of efficiency. Ho-oh kindly took Kyogre's discomfort into consideration, making Mewtwo lift Kyogre into the air within a sphere of water, which Kyogre appreciated immensely.

* * *

Raikou had waited patiently along the coast for several hours, waiting for his master to reach him, not moving once. Suicune and Entei had already left to take on their assignments. The creeping water from the waves lapped gently against Raikou's paws. The Beast of Thunder strained his eyes to peer across the sea, eager to receive orders from his master.

Then, in the distance, he saw it: three figures approaching him from over the sea. The form of his master could not be mistaken, but the two other figures that accompanied him raised questions. Raikou banished them from his mind, if they flew with his master, then they shared his ideals and were allies. If his master had honored them with his presence, then they also deserved his respect. Raikou waited patiently until they reached the shore. Mewtwo and Ho-oh remained hovering in the air while Kyogre was returned to his oceanic home.

"I hope your travels went well," Raikou said with the utmost sincerity.

"Yes. I have added more to our cause," Ho-oh replied, motioning towards Mewtwo and Kyogre.

"I have waited here as you had asked me to. I'm ready for any task you ask of me."

"You have one of the most important tasks in my plan. Raise your head Raikou, I know your loyalty to be strong and true," Ho-oh said softly, touched by the utter admiration and obedience his creation had just shown.

Raikou raised his head as he had been asked, his face beaming with joy after being recognized and doted upon by his master.

"I am honored to have such a responsibility. I will not fail you," Raikou said. Raikou's eyes rested on Kyogre and Mewtwo for a few moments before looking back onto Ho-oh. "Master, if I may be allowed to know…who are they that accompany you?"

"Ah, how rude of me. I introduce to you the King of the Ocean, Kyogre. He has agreed to lend his strength to us and he has commanded nearly all the denizens of the ocean to aid us in our goal. As for the other one…" Ho-oh paused, trailing off and glancing at Mewtwo's mute presence, "consider him a new servant of mine."

Raikou stared quizzically at Mewtwo, his blank stare looking back at him.

_Do I consider him a brother like Suicune and Entei? Should I withhold my curiosity as to his origins and why he is silent_? Raikou thought. He decided it would be best to hold his tongue. He would be content with what his master let him know for the moment. If his master had not told him, then it was because it was unnecessary for him to know at the moment, neither aiding him in his mission nor hindering him.

Kyogre stared with interest at the complete and utter devotion Raikou showed Ho-oh. He was unaware of what circumstances that had brought about Raikou's servitude, but was sure that it must have been something monumental.

_Then there's yo__u_. Kyogre thought, giving a sideways glance at Mewtwo.

_Never speaking, never moving without so much as an order from Ho-oh. Whereas Raikou's actions showed clear admiration for Ho-oh, Mewtwo's actions, or lack thereof, are the epitome of complete and utter obedience. I can't fathom what Ho-oh has done for this… Mewtwo to give him such…ownership. It's as if he's given his very essence, his life, his will, to Ho-oh. I cannot help but feel that there's a more sinister means to this, but do I really want to delve into this any further_? Kyogre thought. He finally decided not to press the issue as he decided there were some things he was better off not knowing.

"What would you have me do?" Raikou asked, poised to speed to wherever Ho-oh intended to send him.

"Head for the human city closest to here and find their tallest metal installation. Climb to the top and create an electromagnetic field to disable all electronic devices. Make sure that no damage is to come to the tower you are standing on. Destroy all other installations around you and kill the humans and their enslaved Pokémon if you see any," Ho-oh ordered.

"It shall be done master," Raikou replied. He transformed into a living lightning bolt as he sped towards his destination. Ho-oh watched as the bolt arced over the forest with Raikou at its tip. Ho-oh grinned; Raikou's lightning jumps would let him reach the city too quickly and suddenly for any signals to be sent out. What Ho-oh had not told Raikou was that his every move would be watched.

"Kyogre, would you mind aiding Raikou by sending some water Pokémon through the city's beaches? This would help not only me in my plan but it will demonstrate how loyal the inhabitants of your ocean are," Ho-oh said to the King of the Ocean.

Kyogre nodded, Ho-oh turning to Mewtwo and repeating the gesture. Once again, Kyogre was lifted into the air within a sphere of water and taken alongside Ho-oh as they flew over to the coast of the city known as Goldenrod City.

* * *

Ho-oh squinted and watched as angry grey clouds swirled above Raikou. Suddenly, the skies opened and rain began to pour over the city. His gaze fell on Mewtwo who floated silently next to him. From the sound of it, Raikou was making a speech to the humans as the rain began to pour over the city.

In Goldenrod City, mass panic had spread around the city as Raikou dashed through the streets killing any humans and their Pokémon he had come across. Small fires, dead bodies and smoldering craters littered the street. Several people tried to call either the police or the relatives only to find that their phones no longer worked. Many of the inhabitants desperately tried to flee the city only to be ripped apart by the walls of Corphish and Crawdaunt that swarmed ashore like an invading army at Kyogre's command.

The beleaguered inhabitants fled towards the city center, where the radio tower was located. On top of the radio tower was the Emperor of Storm Clouds, Raikou.

Gasps tore through the crowd as they laid eyes on him. Some tried to take pictures of him with their cell phone cameras but like every electronic device in the city, they were completely useless. Raikou silenced the crowd with a roar like that of thunder. Rain and wind swirled around him, making the storm clouds on his back billow like a cape.

"I am Raikou, Emperor of Storm Clouds and emissary of the Lord Ho-oh. I have come to deliver his message. For decades, he has watched your pathetic race defile our homes in the plains, forests and oceans! He has watched as you tear apart our families, enslave us and use us as nothing more than living weapons in these so-called 'tournaments'! For decades he has waited for your race to rise to his standards! For decades he has hoped that your race would coexist with ours. Those decades have passed and what does Lord Ho-oh see? Nothing! The same defilement of our homes! The same brutal enslavement and battles! No longer! We overpower and outnumber you and we will take back our world from your race! Your race will pay in blood for the miseries you have inflicted on us! Heed my words; the reign of Ho-oh shall soon begin!" Raikou roared. A lightning bolt struck behind him, silhouetting him. Thunder boomed as he finished his speech.

The crowd below gasped,, although unaware of what he had roared. The sudden failure of all electronic devices, the ferocious thunderstorm and the invasion of Pokémon that slaughtered anything in their path, it all seemed like the apocalypse has come.

"I want not a single drop of rain to touch me," Ho-oh commanded, watching the wall of rain come closer towards them. Raikou's speech could be heard from where Ho-oh perched himself upon a psychic platform that Mewtwo had summoned from thin air. The countless approaching ripples from the rain swarmed over them with the exception of two areas. One was where Mewtwo floated, the other was where Ho-oh sat, every drop of water psychically made to avoid him. Ho-oh looked at Mewtwo being bombarded by the relentless rain. Whether or not Mewtwo shielded himself from the rain was completely up to Ho-oh.

_Would he get sick if I do nothing? Could he die? I do not wish to lose such a valuable asset such as him. He is stronger and weaker to my dogs in many ways. My dogs are independent enough to carry out my orders and adapt to their surroundings and situation. Mewtwo is completely dependent on my orders, but could clearly kill my dogs with ease at the moment I gave the order_ Ho-oh thought.

A wave of crimson washed over the coast of Goldenrod as Crawdaunt and Corphish swarmed ashore at the command of Kyogre. Anything in their path – building, vehicle, human or trained Pokémon – was torn apart by their deadly pincers or the explosive blasts of their Bubblebeam attacks. Glowing stars of their Swift attacks tore through metal and flesh without fail. Fiery explosions blossomed in the distance like so many raindrops on the ocean's surface.

"You may shield yourself from this rain as well, Mewtwo," Ho-oh said with a sigh. He glimpsed from the corner of his eye to see if Mewtwo had done as he said. As expected, Mewtwo repeated the process of moving the raindrops out of the way with his mind. Ho-oh smiled contently, looking back to observe the handiwork of his other loyal servant.

From afar, Ho-oh watched as buildings were toppled by searing blades of lightning. Grey skies lit up with arcs of jagged blue-white lightning, as if daring anyone to enter its domain. The roar of the rain was drowned out by the crack of lightning and crash of thunder. Ho-oh's attention suddenly shifted to the highest point in the city that Raikou had neglected to touch.

Atop the highest point stood a house of wood with figures darting and shifting all around. Ho-oh imagined some sort of skirmish between the Pokémon and humans, or Pokémon against Pokémon. He wondered if the fight was among his forces over who got to eat the humans or between the trained Pokémon protecting their human masters from the invading Pokémon.

Smoke and flame that suddenly appeared around the wooden home attracted Ho-oh's interest. His answer to his question about whether to investigate was suddenly given when Raikou struck the house with a Thunder attack, reducing it to nothing more than a smoldering crater and scattered rubble. Raikou then sent his bolts through the forest. Ho-oh wondered what he could possibly be attacking.

_Could it be he's targeting a group of humans he suspects have escaped? Maybe he is trying to be thorough? Admirable to say the leas_t. Ho-oh thought.

Eventually, Raikou ceased his attacks on the forest, resuming his assault on the city. Fires ran wild through the ravaged streets of Goldenrod city. The Corphish and Crawdaunt kept their distance and waited for the rain to cool down the area before they advanced. They had strict orders not to attack the tower where Raikou was situated. If they were to find any humans near there, they were to deal with them as swiftly and as cleanly as possible.

Raikou maintained the downpour for as long as he could. Ho-oh decided that now would be the appropriate time to approach Raikou. As Ho-oh flew over the ruined city, he evaluated the damage wreaked upon the area. Dead bodies littered the streets, smoldering craters scarred the land, fires raged out of control and buildings were reduced to smoldering, twisted ruins. The sight of the humans' blasphemous city reduced to rubble was a sight that pleased him. Yet, the sole surviving building was the famed radio tower. But this was not a symbol of hope for humanity. It was a symbol for the start of Ho-oh's reign.

"I'm impressed with your work, Raikou," Ho-oh said. He gazed upon the smoldering post-apocalyptic landscape that was Goldenrod City.

Raikou bowed so low that his nose touched the roof of the building.

"You honor me with your words," Raikou replied.

"Remain here and continue to block any signals from this tower, and make sure that no harm is to come to this place. Kill anything that you believe may damage this tower," Ho-oh commanded.

"As you wish." Raikou bowed his head out of both respect and as a way of concealing his boredom with this mission. Suddenly, the hairs on Raikou's body stood on end as he lifted himself off the floor. Bolts of lightning arced over his fur as he stared past his master.

"My lord, something approaches us from the sea," Raikou said.

Ho-oh turned, part of him feeling like he already knew whom it was. Even from a distance, it was plainly obvious who the owner of those silver wings were.

"Mewtwo, be prepared to block or deflect any attacks that comes near this tower, I want you to protect it with all your power," Ho-oh ordered.

"Permission to strike, my lord? From this distance I can smite him without missing due to the rain," Raikou said.

"Not yet. I shall go first to intercept. If I begin fighting, you may strike."

"But my lord, if you are too close when I strike, then you might be caught in the attack," Raikou said.

"Worry not, your attack will not kill me," Ho-oh replied, flying out to meet the intruder before Raikou could respond.

Kyogre rose from to the surface, watching at the new development with interest. Ho-oh couldn't help but notice with admiration that not a single drop of rain had touched him; Mewtwo had managed to part the sky above Ho-oh, two shifting walls of rain beside him as he flew. Mewtwo had also extended the favor to the approaching Lugia.

_Why is he here? Does he intend to fight? Has he lost his mind? Clearly he must know that he is outmatched._ Ho-oh thought as he headed out to intercept the Lugia.

As soon as he finished pondering, he finally floated face to face with the Lugia.

"Not bad," the Lugia said, glancing around before staring back into Ho-oh's eyes.

Ho-oh could barely contain his surprise. The Lugia that had previously referred to him as a twisted monster was actually complementing him! "You're not-" Ho-oh began.

"-The Lugia you know? The Guardian of the Sea? No. I'm not," Lugia's brother replied testily, cutting Ho-oh off midsentence.

"Why are you here?"

"To join you,"

Ho-oh stared at the silver Legendary with a shocked expression. The expression of shock lasted only for a short time it was traded in with one of doubt and suspicion.

"Why?" Ho-oh asked.

"The Lugia you know told me that you plan to kill all the humans. Humans haven't exactly made my life any nicer these past few years. As a bonus, the other Lugia you know is against this entire idea. All the more reason for me to join you," Lugia's brother replied.

"Why do you hold such loathing for the other Lugia?"

"Because of him, I exiled myself to a far away land where I was captured and tortured by humans. Not once did he think of me and come to my aid, which would not have even been necessary had he not been so selfish in his decisions," the words of Lugia's brother carried the same venom as if very Lugia he referred to was present before their very eyes.

"Why did he tell this?" Ho-oh asked. Part of him knew full well Lugia had done but he wanted it to be confirmed before him.

"He said he was gathering up all the powerful Pokémon to go against you. He came to me, hoping I would join him," Lugia's brother replied.

Ho-oh's eyes widened in astonishment. Soon, his expression of astonishment quickly turned into one of rage.

"THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR SHOWING HIM MERCY? I will not make the same mistake again!" Ho-oh thundered.

Raikou flinched from where he stood; the arcs of electricity on his body died down and ceased. If there was one thing that he feared, it was when his master was angry. His own powers were nothing compared to the unimaginable power his master had attained.

"What else do you know? Who has joined him? What is he planning?" Ho-oh demanded.

"All I know is what he told me. He said he was gathering the other powerful Pokémon. I don't know how many have joined him," Lugia's brother replied.

Ho-oh stared angrily at Lugia's brother for a moment, the Legendary on the receiving end simply stared back with a disapproving look. The Guardian of the Skies closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A defeated sigh escaped his beak as he opened his eyes again, his anger brought down to a simmer. Anger would cloud his judgment; he would have to be calm if he wanted to think clearly.

"Given the amount of time since he's found out about my plan, he must not have gotten many to join his cause yet. I will have to change my plans slightly so to accommodate for this situation," Ho-oh mumbled before growing silent for a minute or two, contemplating and weighing his options.

"If anything, I may have to thank Lugia for having you join us," Ho-oh said calmly, looking at Lugia's brother. His voice carried a hint of confidence in it.

"So I'm in?" Lugia's brother asked with a smile. His interest had been piqued by the destruction wrought on Goldenrod City.

"Why of course! I had originally wanted Lugia to join me. How strong are you compared to the Lugia I know?" Ho-oh replied. His voice was much less angry and far more cheerful now that he had a new ally. He then turned back and flew back to the radio tower, Lugia's brother trailing behind him.

"We're equally matched," Lugia's brother said proudly.

"Perfect, it will be as if Lugia never declined my offer. I look forward to our future partnership!" Ho-oh replied. He appeared to be in an almost joyful mood.

Yet, despite his happy facade, Ho-oh was not pleased with the unexpected turn of events. A large part of him felt he should be reprimanded for not considering the possibility of Lugia taking action against him. He realized now that it was naïve to have thought Lugia would've run away and hid while he put his plans into play. He expected there to be obstacles and snags in his mission, but he hadn't accounted for a possible legendary alliance made to fight against him. Ho-oh knew he would have to work quickly to amend this new predicament.

Lugia's brother stared at Ho-oh, finding it hard to contain his admiration and curiosity. He had returned to the ocean, knowing that he would be lying if he said that it didn't feel good to swim once more, even if it was the same ocean his brother had touched. He asked for directions, the water Pokémon informing him of the sudden change in leadership.

When he asked if they had ever seen Ho-oh, they replied that they had, once he had described Ho-oh to them. They had told him that they had seen Ho-oh with Kyogre and gave him the directions to where they were last headed. Lugia's brother knew he was close when he broke the surface of the ocean and saw the storm above the city, frequent flashes of lightning made it easy to know it was something unnatural.

What surprised Lugia's brother the most was that he could sense the presence of everyone else around him, with one exception. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't feel Ho-oh's presence. His eyes could clearly see him, but his psychic abilities were unable to touch him. Dozens of questions stirred in his mind, but he withheld them for the time being, expecting them to be answered in time.

"You messed this place up pretty good," Lugia's brother said, surveying the damage with a sweeping glance.

"Glorious isn't it? But the credit belongs to Raikou atop the tower," Ho-oh replied as they approached Raikou and Mewtwo.

Both of Mewtwo's hands extended, one of them making psychic platforms below Lugia and Ho-oh. The rainbow colored Legendary relaxed and perched himself upon the psychic platform. Lugia's brother cautiously landed on his platform, worrying that his weight might shatter the thin platform. Once Lugia's brother was comfortable, Ho-oh commanded Mewtwo again.

"Fetch Kyogre for us, he may want to take part in this discussion as well," Ho-oh ordered. Kyogre joined them around the tower, swimming in a levitated hemisphere of water below him.

* * *

Ho-oh briefed Kyogre and Raikou on the situation after he'd given Lugia's brother a detailed explanation about his plans. Once Ho-oh finished, there was a long period of silence that went with it.

"We will have to work quickly then?" Lugia's brother asked to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yes…we will" Ho-oh replied.

"So what's the plan?"

Ho-oh was quiet for a long time, formulating a mental list of the Pokémon that could possibly join Lugia's cause. From the looks of it, Lugia's alliance would be larger than theirs in a worst-case scenario. In the end, the alliances boiled down to this: the skill of the Pokémon enslaved by the humans versus sheer numbers of wild Pokémon. Ho-oh would have to find some way of bending the latter to his will, while the former and their trainers would easily join Lugia. It was quantity vs. quality.

"Is there anything that any of you wish to divulge that may help further our goal?" Ho-oh asked, looking at Lugia's brother.

"Well…I don't know if it'll be useful, but I've spent many years living in this place the humans refer to as the Orre region. There's barely any Pokémon there in the wild since it's a desolate place, but it's full of humans. Wild Pokémon are starting to appear there, but it's not enough to make a difference. We could attack them since they're probably not experiencing the same problems as the other regions are, due to their lack of wild Pokémon," Lugia's brother suggested. He felt distinctly uncomfortable at being put on the spot.

Ho-oh's eyebrows raised by a few millimeters as Lugia's brother divulged what he knew.

"That information will prove useful, but I do not think that now is the right time to attack that area," Ho-oh replied.

Lugia's brother tried hard not to frown. He had already begun to contemplate the destruction of a certain island near Orre.

"Why not now? The humans there will be easy pickings, we could slaughter them quickly. Let us strike now while we have the element of surprise, before word of what is happening reaches them and they have time to prepare," Lugia's brother argued.

"Seal that insolent mouth of yours! Ho-oh knows what is best. If he says that we will not attack those humans, we will not do so! How dare you-" Raikou barked.

"That is enough Raikou," Ho-oh ordered calmly, cutting Raikou off midsentence. Ho-oh did not even bother to make eye contact with his underling.

Raikou obeyed nearly instantaneously and appeared to almost cower in fear of his master. Lugia's brother couldn't help but give a perplexed stare at Raikou, before Ho-oh gained his attention again.

"You'll have to excuse him. I will admit that you have a good point, but for what I have in mind, it will be best to leave them be for now," Ho-oh said, moving on quickly and fixating his stare on Kyogre.

Kyogre had been so focused on the attention being given to Lugia's brother that he hadn't noticed it had suddenly switched to him. It took him a moment to muster something up.

"I know of an extremely powerful Pokémon that wanders the ocean. It may very well be the second strongest thing in my entire domain," Kyogre said, clearly referring to himself as _the_ strongest creature in the sea.

"Stronger than me?" Lugia's brother asked.

Kyogre's gaze switched over to Lugia's brother, "Aside from Ho-oh, his servants, and myself, I don't believe that anyone could defeat this Pokémon single-handedly. They would have to bring an army with them to take down something as powerful as this Pokémon. In many ways this Pokémon is stronger than I am, but in a battle with me, I would win," he replied.

"Will this Pokémon join us?" Ho-oh asked.

"I'm not sure. This Pokémon has spent many years in search of something, and I do not believe that quest will be dropped so easily at our request." Kyogre replied. He then explained what that Pokémon was searching for.

"I shall handle that problem. Where is this Pokémon?" Ho-oh asked.

"Anywhere. I would have to search the seas."

"How long would that take?"

"It may take me several weeks at most," Kyogre estimated.

"Fair enough. If you could find this Pokémon, bring it here. I would like to have a little chat," Ho-oh said.

Kyogre nodded in response, "I'll see what I can do," he replied.

Ho-oh nodded towards Mewtwo who sent Kyogre back into the depths of sea to begin his search.

"What about him?" Lugia's brother asked, looking right at Mewtwo. Ho-oh did the same, surprised that he had actually overlooked the fact that his new puppet might have something to contribute to their cause.

"Why of course! I can't believe I almost forgot. Why don't you tell me something that would help us during the war?" Ho-oh commanded.

Against his will, Mewtwo confessed to the deep dark secrets he held within the confines of his mind. The information shocked, horrified, and amazed everyone around him. Despite the atrocities he had heard, Ho-oh could not hold back a smile at the final bit that Mewtwo had announced.

"It seems as though persuading Kyogre's ace to join us will not be a problem after all," Ho-oh said with a smirk.

"So…what now?" Lugia's brother interjected hastily.

"Does your insolence know no bounds?" Raikou snapped. Even though Ho-oh had told him off before, he still could not let such a blatant display of insolence pass by him.

"No, he is right Raikou. Time is of the essence now. I have to make a visit to a certain Pokémon. It is a gamble but I believe the one I am looking for is in the region the humans refer to as Sinnoh. Mewtwo will accompany me. Raikou, continue to disrupt all telecommunication," Ho-oh commanded before turning his attention to Lugia's brother.

"As for you. Destroy the remaining human settlements in this region" he ordered.

"With pleasure!" Lugia's brother replied. His appetite for destruction and revenge was finally going to be sated. He burst off his platform with enough force to shatter it as he soared through the air and dove into the depths of the sea.

Before Ho-oh could depart, Raikou made a motion towards the golden Legendary. Ho-oh noticed and smiled.

"Worry not Raikou, I will not abandon you here. This visit will be short and I will come back for you. All I need you to do is not to leave this area and ensure that no harm comes to the tower," Ho-oh replied.

"It's not that my lord. I'm simply curious. If I may be allowed to know, who is it that you're going to see?" Raikou asked.

Ho-oh paused for a few seconds; Raikou felt that he had committed another transgression and he was preparing to apologize for his inquiry when Ho-oh began to speak.

"I don't see the harm in letting you know. I plan to pay Regigigas a visit. He has something that I need, something that I do not wish for Lugia and his alliance to have," Ho-oh replied darkly.

With that said, Ho-oh flapped his wings and flew towards Sinnoh. The ravaged landscape of Goldenrod City was a harbinger of the battles that were to come.

* * *

**Some of you may recognize this attack on the city from Poke Wars: The Exigence, just from a different perspective. **

**Next, Chapter 6: Birds of a Feather.**


	6. Birds of a Feather

Lugia's mate burst from the surface of the sea, scattering the moisture that clung to her body with a single flap. She scanned her surroundings. There was nothing in her immediate surroundings but the open ocean. But the trio of elemental islands – Fire Island, Lightning Island and Ice Island – lay in the distance. Just as she had begun to decide which island she would visit first; her psychic powers detected the presence of three creatures.

She knew all too well who these Pokémon were, but she was surprised at how they were conveniently located in one area. She expected to find neither bird on their respective island, as they made a habit of leaving for long periods of time. The fact that all three of them came to her the same time was either mere coincidence or – more likely – they had been waiting for her.

From the left, a blast of heat issued forth, heralding the appearance of Moltres – the Firebird. The air around her shimmered and the waters below her began to boil thanks to the intense heat radiated from her wings. To the right, a blast of glacial wind came forth, signaling the arrival of Articuno – the Mistress of Ice. As she flew towards Lugia's mate, a trail of ice formed beneath her, leading back to Ice Island. Finally, the last of the Legendary Birds, the Master of Lightning – Zapdos appeared before Lugia's mate with the smell of ozone. Arcs of electricity danced on the waves below him like lightning bolts in miniature storm clouds. The three Legendary Birds looked upon Lugia's mate as they would an insect; disapproving glares bombarded her from all sides.

"Were you all expecting me?" Lugia's mate asked, giving a passing glance to each of them.

"We were told to come to our islands and await your arrival," Zapdos replied. His voice was accompanied by a deep electrical hum not unlike the sound from a machine.

"By who?" Lugia's mate asked. She was baffled at the idea that someone had actually foreseen her arrival.

"I was approached by a small green Pokémon who called herself Celebi," Moltres replied. The crackling of embers and small gouts of flame accompanied her every word.

"As was I!" Articuno added in a clear, almost ethereal voice. She was clearly surprised that the same event had occurred to her.

"Likewise," Zapdos added with annoyance.

Before Lugia's mate began to consider the motivations for Celebi conveniently sending the three birds back to their islands, she banished the thought and went on to complete her mission.

"Regardless of how you came here, your creator is in need of your assistance. Ho-oh is going to wage war against the humans; as we speak, he is recruiting Pokémon to aid him. Lugia needs you to fight against him," she said.

"Why didn't he come here himself? Is he so important that he can't bother to have an audience with us?" Zapdos said bitingly.

Lugia's mate sighed; her mate had told her of the event that had occurred several years ago. A human in the midst of their squabble for territory had almost captured the Legendary Birds. They had completely ignored her mate's orders to cease fighting; it was only after the crisis had been averted that they flew alongside Lugia.

Their lack of obedience angered Lugia's mate. She began to doubt if they would even join Lugia's cause; they had been victims of human transgressions. Even if they hadn't suffered the evils of humanity, she figured they would refuse to join due to their apparent lack of loyalty.

_I knew this wasn't going to be easy but I cannot fail him now_. Lugia's mate thought.

"He is preoccupied with finding others to join his cause," she said.

Zapdos scowled. "So are we not important enough to be met personally by him?" he asked. His voice carried a bitter edge to it that showed his irritation at being relegated to second class by Lugia.

"No, he trusted that you would be loyal to him and join him while he dealt with others that would be more difficult to convince."

The three birds cast awkward glances at each other as they thought about what their next orders were.

* * *

Silver and Latias had traversed the ocean of leaves for over an hour, veiled under concealing cloak of the mists that surrounded Tree of Beginning. They could not close their hanging maws; each second was more stunning than the last as they laid eyes on the Tree of Beginning. Every foot they traveled, the tree seemed to grow redefining their concept of enormity.

Surrounding and shielding the mountain at the base of the "tree" were colossal fangs of stone that jutted from the earth. Clouds drifting feebly in the wind barely grazed the lowermost stone petals of the pseudo-tree of rock. Clear shards of sapphire shot from the earth for miles around. Hot springs were scattered around the mountain ranges, miles away from the lithic fangs.

Silver and Latias floated before the Tree of Beginnings, unsure where to head next. Countless openings led into caves intricately woven into the stone complex. Suddenly, both of them sensed a presence at the base of a stone fang. The presence felt ancient and weathered, but strong.

Flashing lights helped them pinpoint the presence through the mist. They hovered above the ground and the cleared the fog around them with a blast of psychic energy. A stone behemoth towered over them. Dots of light flashed randomly in the shape of an H where its face should have been. Each flash was accompanied by an electronic sounding low beep.

"Would you happen to know if a Pokémon that looks like a larger version of me passed by here?" Silver asked.

"It have spotted that Pokémon. It is down this tunnel," Regirock said. His rhythmic speech drew the attention of Latias and Lugia from what he was actually saying. He turned and pointed his stony arm towards a tunnel behind him. He took a few steps back, allowing them to enter the passage.

Latias and Silver flew past the legendary golem and made their way through the winding tunnel. There only light was the ethereal cold blue-green glow emitted by crystals that jutted from the brown rock walls. Silver closed his eyes and reached out with his psychic powers, attempting to sense his father's presence.

What his psychic sweep found was even more amazing than the enormity of the mountain they were currently within; the mountain itself was alive.

To compare the size of the two Legends to the size of Tree of Beginning would be to compare a blood cell to the human body. Silver couldn't help but feel like a blood cell as he and Latias coursed through the veins of the mountain. He could feel the mountain's pulse as life energy spread from the tree to the surrounding land like ripples from a pebble dropped in a pond.

Dozens of questions raced through Silver's mind like he and Latias raced through the veins of the Tree of Beginning. Such as how can a mountain be alive?

_Then again, that Pokémon at the entrance of the cave was rock and apparently alive. _He thought.

Silver's psychic sweep was capable of detecting any life functions. He sensed Regirock's presence but found no heartbeat or any other life function. But he plainly saw that life and thoughts inhabited that vessel of stone. But the psychic signature of Regirock and that of the Tree of Beginning were totally different.

Latias cruised through the winding passage totally unaware of the thoughts within Silver's head. The sound of rushing water greeted their ears as they approached the end of the tunnel. When they finally burst from the narrow tunnel into the brilliantly lit cliff; a brand new world opened up to them.

The two were perched on cliff high above a dazzling subterranean garden. A cerulean lake in the middle of the cavern was its most stunning feature. Trees and grass of vibrant green covered nearly every stretch of earth, filling the air with the crisp vegetal scent of a spring meadow. Waterfalls flowed from the edges of cliffs, forming swift streams that fed the lake. Columns of stone rose from the waters below and connected to the ceiling, seemingly supporting the entire cavern. A large array of light blue crystals that blossomed from the ceiling like a chandelier illuminated the entire garden.

At the edge of the cliff opposite them was Silver's father, waiting for them patiently. The swift flight of Latias and Silver bridged the distance in an instant. As Silver drew closer, he noticed that his father's demeanor had changed. Lugia appeared rather haggard and his eyes were downcast.

"Son," Lugia said, smiling weakly.

"Father, I brought Latias like you asked. There were no problems," Silver replied.

"Excellent." Lugia faced Latias and bowed. "Thank you for coming," he said.

"A pleasure to meet you as well," Latias said respectfully. She returned the bow.

Silver glanced around before turning back to his father. "Where's mom?" he asked.

"Your mother insisted on helping, so I sent her to find Groudon, my creations, and Rayquaza," Lugia replied.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long."

Silver could tell that something was plaguing his father's thoughts, something that his father did not want him to know and clearly did not want to discuss at the current moment. Silver decided to change the subject for his sake.

"Father, have you felt this place? It's amazing!" he said excitedly.

"Yes, I have. It truly is something to marvel at," Lugia replied.

"What do you mean?" Latias asked. She was unsure what they were referring to and felt that she had missed something on the way.

"Close your eyes and feel the mountain," Silver said, turning to Latias.

Latias had closed her eyes until he finished his sentence. "What?" she asked.

"Trust me, it's really cool!" Silver said, urging on Latias. She looked over to Silver's father and found him nodding back reassuringly.

Latias closed her eyes, her face as stern as a Nosepass. Silver's smile then grew wider. Had anyone been looking at him or Latias, they too would have been smiling for his smile was infectious. Latias's jaw slowly dropped in awe from what she felt and saw behind her closed eyes.

Latias' lids lifted suddenly, as if her mind could no longer contain what she was processing and it was escaping through her eyes.

"I can't believe it!" she cried, swiveling around in pure ecstasy. She drank in the beauty of the underground garden once more but in a new light. As she spun, something pink appeared in the distance that wasn't there before. Another revolution revealed that the pink creature was now closer; its baby blue eyes only an inch or two away from her own golden eyes.

Latias squealed and backed away from the pink Pokémon that suddenly appeared before her. Mew slowly floated towards her, watching with interest. Suddenly, he started flying around Latias as if she had her own gravitational field. Latias stared at Mew, clearly unsure of what to do or how to react to this playful Pokémon.

Mew then stopped orbiting her, levitated to Latias's eye level. Strangely, he did so while upside down. He paid no heed to Lugia and Silver.

"Hi. I'm Mew. Wanna play?" Mew asked sweetly.

Latias cast a confused glance at Silver, his expression mirroring hers.

"Uh…sure," she replied.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Mew chirped, resuming his orbit around her. "A new friend! A new friend!"

"Father, who is this Pokémon?" Silver said, turning his confusion towards Lugia in hopes that he would explain.

"That is Mew. He dwells within the Tree of Beginning. He leaves only to bring treasures back and to check if the mountain is safe," Lugia replied.

"Why does he need to check that his place is safe? It's huge and I doubt I could make more than a scratch on it within a day."

Lugia was silent, if only for a moment as he stared at Mew flying around Latias who reluctantly began to play with him. "Mew's life is tied to the Tree of Beginning. If something were to attack the mountain, they would essentially be attacking Mew," he replied.

Silver couldn't imagine something being strong enough to destroy something of this size. "Does that mean that Mew can't be killed unless you attack the Tree of Beginning? Does the Tree of Beginning get destroyed if Mew's killed?" he asked.

"I wouldn't know. Hopefully it would never come to that."

Silver stared at Mew gamboling with Latias. He suppressed a chuckle at their antics. But more pressingly, he could not believe that this childlike Legendary was one of the strong Pokémon that Lugia was attempting to recruit. "Is he one of the strong Pokemon that's going to join us?" Silver asked.

"Remember Silver, appearances are not everything. While Mew may appear playful and childish, he is very powerful. Every attack known is his to command and he can transform into any Pokémon at will. Now that his dampeners are removed, he has become even more powerful. Finally, he has the power to teleport to any location he desires, provided that knows the area well enough," Lugia replied.

Silver looked at the floating pink cat-like Pokémon. His father's words seemed to contradict what he was seeing. "But he will join our cause, father?" he asked.

"Sadly, I am not sure. I've tried talking to him, but all he wants to do is play. And knowing that I won't play with him, he now ignores me,"

"Didn't you explain to him what's going on? Doesn't he care about the humans?"

Lugia nodded. "He does care about the humans. Like Ho-oh, he appears before humans with pure hearts, but he refuses to listen intently until I play with him. With the surge of power caused by the dampener's removal, he has entered an ecstatic state very similar to what humans call a 'high'. While he is in this state, he is more preoccupied with playing than the outside world," he said.

Silver looked crestfallen. They had journeyed to find the powerful Pokémon only to find out that it was too high to care about anything other than its own pleasure. He said nothing as he stared at his father.

"He will come around eventually. This place is far too small for me to attempt the kind of playing he has in mind. You and Latias might have a better chance of getting him to talk," Lugia said, noticing the expression on his son's face.

"What about that rock Pokémon I saw here? Can it help? It looks powerful," Silver said.

"The guardians of this structure? The Regis? I've tried asking them to join as well, but I might as well be air to them. They answer only to Mew or their creator. Aside from that they seem almost programmed to protect the Tree of Beginning. Now that their dampeners have been removed, they are even more powerful and efficient."

"So what now?" Silver asked. His question was followed by brief minute of silence.

"I had been waiting for you to arrive. I wanted to make sure that you were safe here before I went out searching for others to join our cause. Wait for your mother here; hopefully she arrives safely as you did. Inform her of what I've done and tell her to expect me back in a few days if all goes well," Lugia instructed. His body was now poised to take to the air once more.

"Father?"

Lugia held his position, his attention focused forward. "What is it?" he asked.

"Something's bothering you. I can feel it. I don't even have to read your mind. If you're worried about mom, I can understand because I am too, but she's really strong and she'll be fine," Silver said. He was hoping that he was getting through to his father.

"I am worried about your mother, but I know how strong she is. I know she will come back." Lugia's eyes were still locked onto the tunnel that led out of the mountain. The promise made by Celebi – the safe return of his mate – came back into his mind.

Silver decided to press the question. "Then what's bothering you?" he asked.

Lugia's eyelids hooded his eyes, his defeated aura resurfaced once more. "I know I mustn't give up…but things do not look promising for our side. I went to see Celebi, a Legendary with the ability to travel through time, but she did not wish to take any part of this war. Afterwards, I went to recruit my brother, but because of our past troubles, he's left to join Ho-oh," he said, trying to suppress the pain that his failed missions bought up.

Silver was at a loss for words; he had never known that his father had a brother. He had an uncle. Before he could even say another word, his father burst from the cliff he had perched on, the force causing the cliff to crumble while Silver hovered there, dumbfounded. Latias and Mew were still playing in the meadow. Thoughts flew through Silver's brain too fast for him to process. He sighed and reluctantly joined the two Legendaries in play to take his mind off what his father had revealed to him.

* * *

Lugia sped through dimly lit tunnels at great speeds. He knew the Regis would listen to Regigigas, the next candidate for his alliance. There was a chance that Regigigas would have the very thing his alliance would need to potentially turn the tide of the war for the humans.

He burst out into the bright sun and headed off to his search for Regigigas. He knew that it was a gamble, but he would just have to trust his gut instinct.

Now he only had to hope that his gut instinct was right.

* * *

Lugia's mate felt quite pleased with herself, she had sent Lugia's three birds on their way to the Tree of Beginning. She climbed higher into the atmosphere, hoping to spot any smoke or flames that would lead her to her target. Soon enough, her hours of enduring the unforgiving sun and the cold, thin air of the upper atmosphere were rewarded.

Down below her was a smoldering mass of molten rocks. Steam rose high into the atmosphere as the cool ocean waves hardened the molten rock. Trudging around the island was the reptilian behemoth and the Lord of the Continents – Groudon. Armored crimson plates covered his body; his gray underbelly was the only skin exposed. Black glyphs were engraved throughout his stony armor, pallid spikes protruded from the sides of his body and his tail.

Lugia's mate quickly descended from the skies but thirty meters away from Groudon, she felt as though she had collided with a wall; a shimmering wall made of searing heat. She had to blink more frequently; the sudden exposure to the superheated air making her eyes dry and uncomfortable.

She was surprised to find that the ocean wasn't actually boiling as she finally floated before Groudon. The relentless sun outside of his domain was suddenly the lesser of the two evils. His yellow eyes glanced over her as one would a pebble on the ground. She was practically drenched in sweat by the time that Groudon's entire body had turned towards her.

"Ya took your sweet time," Groudon grumbled, shaking the island he had just created. His voice was deep and gravelly.

"What?" Lugia's mate asked. Ripples from the droplets of sweat rained from her sleek silver body.

"Celebi came by and told me to wait here for you when I woke up. Said you had something important to tell me."

Lugia's mate nodded, dumbfounded at this new information. Once again, Celebi had informed the Pokémon that she had been sent to recruit, making her job easier. She wondered whether it was the work of her husband asking a favor of Celebi, or if for some unknown reason Celebi had decided to take it upon herself to help her. At first she thought it was a coincidence, but it seemed like everything was falling in place for her; it was too convenient for it to be a coincidence. Somehow, Celebi had managed to inform all of her soon-to-be recruits of her arrival at the same time.

Lugia's mate quickly realized that she had stayed silent too long; the air seemed to grow hotter as Groudon stared at her with a mix of inquisitiveness and annoyance.

Lugia's mate immediately launched into the briefing that she had mentally prepared en route to Groudon. She did her best to explain everything, from why Groudon was awoken and why he felt so much more powerful to Ho-oh's planned genocide and his reasoning for it.

As she continued on with her briefing, Groudon gave no indication as to whether he had decided to join her or not; if anything he seemed bored. Lugia's mate, seeing that this was going nowhere, decided to use her ace; the one piece of knowledge that her mate told her to use only if things were not in their favor. "So far the Pokémon that have joined Ho-oh are Mew's clone, his Legendary Dogs, and Kyogre. He has assumed the title 'King of the Sea' and plans to-" she began.

The center of the landmass behind Groudon suddenly erupted, spewing a geyser of red hot magma into the air as he threw his head back and roared. The female Lugia quickly cut her words short as globules of molten lava rained down like meteors. The ground quaked beneath Groudon, miniature tsunamis crashed against the shores of the expanding island.

Lugia's mate quickly used her psychic powers to form a barrier to deflect the downpour of molten rain; tiny towers of steam accompanied the crescendo of hisses and crackles from the volcanic bombardment. Rivers of lava poured into the ocean from the volcanic crater in the middle of the island. Groudon's roar grew quieter as he lowered his head back to stare at Lugia's mate. His eyes carried an internal fire as hot as the rivers of lava surrounding them.

"Sorry 'bout that. Hope I didn't scare ya. Are ya hurt?" Groudon asked with concern. A blast of heat washed over Lugia's mate anew.

"It's okay, I'm fine," she replied. Although her racing heart said otherwise.

"Just talking 'bout Kyogre gets me riled up, especially with his 'King of the Sea' crap. Bastard probably thinks he can beat me now with the removal of his...his…dampeners was it?"

"So are you with us?" Lugia's mate asked. She mentally scolded herself for being so blunt but she had others to recruit and she needed to move.

Groudon gave it only a few seconds of thought, his eyes staring off into the sun and skies. "Yeah I'll join ya. As long as I'm against Kyogre it's fine. He's probably lettin' his new strength get to his head. His ego makes a Drifblim look deflated, and I'm just gonna hafta beat it back down. If he thinks he's gonna expand his territory, usin' this war as an excuse, he's got another think comin'. So what now?" he replied.

"All the strong Pokémon are meeting at the Tree of Beginning, it's in-"

"I know where it is. Ya think I don't know where my own masterpieces are?" Groudon interrupted. He was already heading towards the aforementioned location.

"Gotta say though, good place to make a base. At least yer husband's got taste," Groudon added just before he raised a land bridge to the continent. Even in this world of massively powerful Pokémon, she found the sight of solid rock rising from the deep blue of the ocean to be awe inspiring. Once Groudon had reached the mainland; he dove into the earth as if it were water.

Groudon tore through hard rock and dirt as easily as an Empoleon swimming through the ocean. In only seconds, he traversed a distance of miles and struck a magma vein. He entered the vein and swam through the dense and viscous molten rock as if it were water. This was his ocean; his world of searing heat.

Lugia's mate couldn't help but feel a small sense of relief, as the suffocating heat seemed to recede in Groudon's absence. She had managed to recruit another Legendary to their cause, making a total of four. She began to contemplate her next course of action, but the remnants of the stifling heat were making her brain sluggish. She made a move to head away from the volcanically active island.

As if on command, the superheated air was banished from existence. Lugia's mate detected the sudden presence of another strong Pokémon. She swung her entire body around to find an emerald serpentine figure floating in midair.

His body slithered in place through the air; each ferocious golden iris seemed to glow bright against the black void of his sclera. The yellow glyphs across his body reminded her of the markings on Groudon's body. Scarlet fangs jutted out of his gums as he opened his mouth to speak. Floating before her was the Sky Guardian – Rayquaza.

"Where is he?" he hissed. His voice sounded like the roaring of the jet stream's fierce winds.

Lugia's mate continuously flipped back and forth through the feelings of joy and fear. Joy because she would not have to search the upper atmosphere where the air was cold and thin to find Rayquaza, fear she felt very small next to twenty three meters of emerald dragon hovering before her. He opened her mouth to say something but fear had paralyzed her vocal cords.

An impatient snarl escaped Rayquaza's blood-red maw. The sound shook Lugia's mate out of her fear-induced paralysis. "He…left," she said. She hoped the answer was enough to sate his curiosity and leave her to have her heart attack in peace.

"**Where?**" Rayquaza demanded.

Coherent language had left her as she turned and motioned towards the land bridge connecting the mainland with the island. Rayquaza's emerald brow furrowed as he stared intently at the land bridge.

The female Lugia breathed a sigh of relief as the Sky Guardian focused his attention on the land bridge. She now faced the tortuous decision whether to bring his attention back to her or avoid scrutiny beneath his intimidating glare. "Were you brought here by Celebi?" she asked.

Rayquaza's golden stare transfixed her, as if he were dissecting her with his thoughts. "Celebi? No. Something has happened, as I'm sure you're well aware. I feel a surge of energy, as everyone that I've come into contact with has been able to describe it to me. Knowing Groudon and Kyogre, they've felt this power boost, and I have no doubt in my mind that they would love to test out their strength against each other. I'm here to break up the fight before it starts. Though I find it odd that Groudon would pass up that opportunity and head for the mainland, further away from Kyogre. What did you say to him?" he demanded.

Lugia's mate flinched under the piercing stare but she steeled herself and repeated the explanation she had given to Groudon. She tried to avoid returning Rayquaza's stare, feeling like it could flay her alive in an instant. When she finished her explanation, Rayquaza's golden gaze gave no indication of what he was thinking or how the explanation had affected him. Before she could say or ask anything, the piercing stare left her along with the rest of Rayquaza's body as he began to fly away. Relief and dismay flooded her silver frame.

"Wait! Where're you going? Are you joining us? If you are, I haven't even told you where we're meeting!" Lugia's mate called. She made a desperate attempt to keep up with the emerald Legendary, who was rapidly adding distance between them with ease. Rayquaza swiftly decelerated, his tail slashing dangerously close to her.

"I'm not going to help you protect the humans," Rayquaza replied, his back still turned to her.

"You're joining Ho-oh!"

"I don't see why not. You probably don't know this, but for the longest time, I was captured by a group of humans and tortured. It's thanks to the removal of my dampeners that I could escape and exact my revenge. I have guarded the ozone layer for eons and recently, I have noticed it getting thinner. Who is to blame? The humans! They defile and destroy my realm with their chemicals! But what do they care? As long as the majority live comfortably, they will do nothing to help the planet! I believe that Ho-oh is doing the planet a favor with his audacious plan."

Rayquaza flew off with a stunning burst of speed. In mere seconds, he was a speck on the horizon. A distant sonic boom echoed across the sea as he shattered the sound barrier in his flight. Lugia's mate sighed, knowing that she could never catch him. She marveled at the speed at which Rayquaza could now move. Seeing as her mission was done, she decided to head back to the meeting place: the Tree of Beginning.


	7. Battle of the Ages

**Just as man can create a sheet of music that is a masterpiece, it means nothing if there isn't a musician there to play it with the skill necessary to make sound as beautiful as possible, which is why I would like to thank Jakayrta for his assistance in this chapter once again. I would also like to make this a tribute to my brother Joel for the bigger fights that are to come. I researched it and found that there are two Regigigas, but when I looked for Mew, I could not find enough suitable evidence to support the idea that there is more than one Mew, the same could go for the legendary birds and some of the others. **

* * *

Ho-oh and Mewtwo soared through the frigid air of the mountains. Icy winds swirled around the peaks and raised blinding snow. Ho-oh's iridescent feathers would have proved no match for the gelid winds and he would have been frozen if it were not for Mewtwo's unimaginable psychic powers that now warded off the biting cold.

Stretched out before them was a conifer forest embraced in a layer of pale slush. The duo soared over one of the many majestic snow-covered mountains.

It had taken them several hours, but they had reached the stone citadel at the base of the mountain. Despite the intense cold of the area, the base of the mountain and the stone structure were untouched by frost. This was known by the humans as Snowpoint Temple – home to the Mover of Continents, Regigigas.

A gray brick pathway led into the mouth of the temple entrance. Fresh snow crowned the pillars of stone that lined the path. The only things left of the once magnificent temple were piles of rubble and fallen pillars. Standing patiently upon a patch of earth untouched by the snow was Regigigas.

Black glyphs ran down the length of his body and along his arms. Gold bands wrapped around his shoulders and wrists. A sloping golden "line" ran down the middle of his body. The line was adorned with black dots; making up what Ho-oh could only assume was his "face".

Years of slumber had allowed moss to take up residence upon Regigigas's shoulders and feet. Three pairs of gems – red, blue and silver – flanked his "face".

Ho-oh landed in front of the ruins. His talons produced clicking sounds as he gently descended onto the brick pathway. The powerful winds produced by the flapping of his great wings cleared the snow away from him. Mewtwo, waiting for his next command, hovered behind the Lord of the Skies.

"It's a pleasure to see you up and about," Ho-oh said. He eyed the temple ruins briefly before he shifted his gaze back to the white titan.

There was no response, not a word nor even a visible gesture.

"I hope your awakening did not prove to be too…uncomfortable."

Again, there was no response. Regigigas's lack of facial expression and silence were starting to make Ho-oh uncomfortable. But as the Lord of the Skies, he could not show fear.

Several uncomfortable seconds ticked by. Suddenly, Regigigas spoke. "State your business," he grumbled, ignoring Ho-oh's previous question entirely. Small talk was quite obviously not his strong suit.

"Oh, of course," Ho-oh said, forcing a smile. "A series of events has occurred, resulting in Pokémon now waging war against humans. Every Pokémon has now been given the power to eliminate humans who have been tainting the earth with their presence. Strong Pokémon are gathering together to wipe out the humans, we would be honored if you were to join our cause."

Several more seconds ticked by. The white titan stood rooted in place. There was no indication if he even heard what Ho-oh had said.

Suddenly, the black spots on Regigigas's golden visage flashed red in random patterns as he spoke. "Do any oppose your movement?" he asked.

Ho-oh debated whether or not he should lie. After a few seconds of thought, he decided against it. The sooner this conversation was over, the better. "Yes, there are those who do not agree with what we are doing," Ho-oh replied.

"What is to be the fate of those that oppose _you_?"

Ho-oh's false smile began to fade into an expressionless line along his golden beak. "As long as they do not get in our way, they will be left alone and allowed to reap the benefits of a world without humans when we have succeeded," he replied.

"And those that do interfere?" Regigigas asked.

Ho-oh's expressionless face twisted into a mask of fury. "They will be…dealt with," he said. His voice was colder than the icy winds that swirled around them.

One of Regigigas's eyes flashed crimson. "I see…" he said.

A glacial breeze passed between them, neither side feeling it. Ho-oh wondered whether his gaze was even meeting Regigigas's gaze.

"What of those who are neutral?" Regigigas asked.

Ho-oh's face briefly showed an expression of surprise; he had been so focused on his allies and enemies that he had neglected those who would take a third party. The rainbow bird brainstormed but he could not come up with anything. Before he could open his mouth to say something, Regigigas interrupted him.

"I believe you have my answer. There isn't anything I have left to say to you," Regigigas said. With the sound of crunching earth, he began to slowly turn away and return to his temple.

Ho-oh smirked as he prepared to deploy his last ditch plan; if he could not recruit the Mover of Continents, he would settle for one of his treasures. "So you won't join? Pity," Ho-oh said with mock sadness. "In any case, I'm not done with you yet; I believe there's something that you can 'donate' to the crusade."

The titan stopped mid step. "And what would that be?" Regigigas asked. His back was turned to the rainbow Legendary.

"You were given six orbs of creation like Lugia and me. Three were used to create your guardian golems, two to make a mirror copy of yourself and your creations. Since you were unable to find a use for that last orb, you placed it somewhere in the temple," Ho-Oh said. He then gave a mock smile. "Why don't I take it off your hands and put it to good use?"

Regigigas slowly turned to Ho-oh. He now had the Mover of Continent's undivided attention.

"I can't give it to you," Regigigas replied. There was no malice or hatred in his voice.

Ho-oh cast a downward glance to the brick pathway, each crease filled with snow. He sighed as he realized what he would have to do.

"You leave me no choice," Ho-oh said calmly. With a single flap of his titanic wings, he flew hundreds of feet into the chilly skies. "Mewtwo! Kill him and take the orb!" he barked.

Almost immediately after Ho-oh's command, Mewtwo thrust his arms forward, attempting to immobilize the titan with a Psychic attack. At nearly same time, an orange ball of light rapidly formed between the Regigigas's three fingers. Unfortunately, for Mewtwo, his Psychic attack was not strong enough to stop the titan. He quickly formed a shield around himself at the last second. The psychic barrier parted the powerful blast of Regigigas's Hyper Beam like a rock in a stream parts the water. The split beams continued for miles, leaving behind a pristine strip of forest flanked by two deep gouges where the split beams had disintegrated the trees and carved out the land.

Regigigas's other arm was already aimed at Ho-oh, an orange orb cradled in his palm before he fired off another Hyper Beam. Ho-oh dove out of the way, the energy beam catching an innocent cloud miles behind him and obliterating it.

Mewtwo maintained the barrier, Ho-oh's orders from before the battle still echoed in his mind like a psychic recording. "_Preserve yourself at all costs, and attack when there's an opening. Should I refer to you by name, prepare for battle. Kill any who attack you unless I say otherwise. As for Regigigas, if negotiations fail, immobilize him, but do not kill him until I give you the command._"

Ho-oh had had just dodged the energy beam when Regigigas's fist came into view. There was no time to dodge; all he could do was watch the titanic fist close the distance between himself and Regigigas. He prepared for the blow; a blow driven with the strength to haul continents across the earth.

The sickening crack of every bone in Ho-oh's body breaking under the massive fist could not be heard over the deafening shockwave caused by the punch. Any structure within several meters was torn apart as if by a bomb. The shockwave was so powerful that a crater appeared on the stone floor beneath Regigigas's fist, as if he had punched the earth itself. The closest trees were shredded and uprooted by the massive shockwave.

_How could something so big move so fast_? Ho-oh thought. Miraculously, he was still alive, despite the fact that he nearly been liquefied by the powerful blow and shockwave. Of course, the blow had sent him flying across acres of frozen forest. After several seconds of flight he realized what had happened. "His ability halves his speed and strength for a certain amount of time. So that conversation…he was stalling for time!" he muttered. He could say no more as he crashed into the mountainside, completely destroying it and triggering a massive avalanche.

The bass rumble of the distant avalanche was heard as Regigigas prepared another Hyper Beam. Before he could do anything, a cerulean aura outlined his body. He tried to move only to find that he was pinned by an invisible force. The orange orb of energy in his palm flickered and died as Mewtwo raised the golem into the air.

Even as put all his strength into moving, he could not move an inch. He was at the complete mercy of Mewtwo. Mewtwo's psychic powers were weakened by distance. If there were some way to place Mewtwo at a distance, he could break the psychic bonds. Alas, Mewtwo had no intention of moving away from the titan. Regigigas was suspended a few meters off the air; Mewtwo hovered before him. Five seconds, ten seconds ticked by but nothing happened.

_I'm at his complete mercy, why doesn't he kill me already_? _What is he waiting for_? Regigigas thought.

He was suddenly released as Mewtwo formed a barrier around his body. Two bolts of lightning deflected off the psychic barrier. Regigigas plummeted to the ground, unhurt by the fall of several meters. He turned around, surprised to see who had come to his rescue.

The three Legendary Golems: Registeel, Regice, and Regirock stood at attention. They were prepared to defend their creator at all costs, even their own lives. Mewtwo's priorities had now changed, his attention now directed to the Legendary Golems. Both of Mewtwo's arms thrust out to his sides, the orb around him expanding like a blast wave from a bomb. The psionic shield slammed into Regigigas, driving him into the mountain that housed his temple and burying him under hundreds of tons of rubble.

Registeel lurched forward; his palms slamming against the psychic surface in a vain attempt to push it back. The ground beneath him crumbled and the golem of steel was swept under, unable to halt or delay the barrier's advancement. Regice slid back upon a path of ice and Regirock burrowed into the ground.

The psychic orb faded into nothingness and Mewtwo now hovered over a crater that spanned the length of a stadium. A geyser of golden energy erupted from somewhere in the crater. He nonchalantly tilted his head to the side, easily avoiding the Hyper Beam. He traced the source of the attack to Registeel, embedded in the earth.

With the flick of his wrist, Registeel flew from the crater like his previous Hyper Beam attack. Surrounded by a cerulean aura, he was suspended before Mewtwo and completely helpless. Registeel could not attack him for Mewtwo had taken the precaution to turn him towards the forest. Mewtwo then closed his hands as if he were attempting to crush an empty can. The shriek of tortured metal came from Registeel as the powerful psychic powers began to crush him. Dents began to cover the surface of Registeel's body as Mewtwo applied more force.

But those dents were only superficial; Mewtwo's immense psychic powers were pitted against another force – the toughness of metal tempered by millennia of crushing pressure deep beneath the earth. His psychic senses detected something underneath him. He quickly shifted Registeel underneath him.

All of a sudden, the air was perforated with the sound of stone pinging against metal. The hapless Registeel had been forced to block the rock shards fired by his stony brother. The shards pounded against the adamantine face of Registeel, leaving no traces except a fine layer of stone dust.

Regirock, seeing that his hail of stones was useless, prepared another attack. The dots on his "face" blinked as a swirling ball of orange energy began forming. Mewtwo reacted split seconds before the attack was launched. A simple swing from his arm flung Registeel right in the path of the powerful energy blast. Regirock immediately aimed the Hyper Beam straight down, causing a tremendous explosion and launching himself out of the crater and into the edge of the forest.

Registeel was once again embedded in soft dirt of the crater. The crater's walls seemed to rise as Mewtwo used the very gravity of the earth as his weapon, crushing Registeel further into the crater. Regirock raised his stony arms and almost immediately, a swarm of stones whirled around his body like planets around their star. Another gesture sent the stones flying like lithic missiles towards their target: Mewtwo. Mewtwo held out his hand. The stones shuddered briefly as his psychic powers froze them in place, a flick of his wrist sent them hurtling towards their origin.

The speeding rocks tore gaping holes in the golem of stone's body. He shuddered as parts of him were shattered and perforated by the stones. He stood for a few seconds, the dots on his "face" blinking in a random pattern. Before he could make any more moves, his entire body crumbled into a heap of multicolored stones.

Mewtwo turned around, backhanding a bolt of lightning as is if it were no more than an insect. Regice switched tactics; an ice-blue bolt flew from his core and struck Mewtwo's psychic shield, enveloping it in a hemisphere of ice. A quick clench of his fists reduced the hemisphere into icy daggers that he launched at Regice with a flick of his wrists.

Regice skated along a path of ice as the ice daggers landed behind him, shredding the forest into a mixture of mulch and slush. The golem of ice didn't make it very far; his icy body lifted off the ground and into the air. Mewtwo made sure to keep way from the subarctic winds that swirled around the golem of ice. He then attempted to crush Regice into a pile of icy shards, deep cracks played across Regice's body as Mewtwo continued applying pressure.

Mewtwo sensed a presence behind him, his frozen expression unable to show his surprise. Regirock had ridden a column of stone back to the battle site, his stony arm reared back to strike Mewtwo's shield at full force He was unable to dodge the massive blow; fortunately, his psychic barrier held. Regirock's arm shattered into many rock shards as the impact landed.

A flick of Mewtwo's wrist tossed Regice at Regirock. Regice's pointed head easily pierced through Regirock's stone "face", completely shattering it.

Regirock's bottom half tumbled towards the earth, the gravelly remains of his upper body fell to earth, peppering the ground. Regice's body continued in its trajectory, it flew into the forest. Anything it touched was instantly frozen and shattered into thousands of ice shards. Mewtwo ignored the golem of ice and looking at remnants of Regirock.

Regirock's lower half kicked off the ground and landed on its feet. The surrounding stones levitated from the ground and began rapidly orbiting it and attaching itself to the remains. It was like watching a skyscraper being built in fast-forward. In mere moments, Regirock stood before Mewtwo, the seven dots on his "face" blinking. Two columns of orange light energy burst from the ruins of the temple, vaporizing tons of rubble in seconds.

Regigigas, boulders tumbling off his body, took a step towards the levitating Mewtwo. A sphere of orange energy formed in his right hand. Regice emerged from the forest to the east, the gaping cracks on his body now gone. Registeel leapt out of the crater into the western forest – or what was left of it. The four golems each faced Mewtwo, their Hyper Beams fully charged and ready to fire.

Almost simultaneously the golems fired their attacks. Mewtwo stopped the Hyper Beams to his left and right. But two Hyper Beams had merged into a single, spiraling helix beam; Mewtwo's shield came up just in time to keep him from being vaporized. Dirt and dust rose as Mewtwo was thrust through the forest, leaving a miles long trench.

Mewtwo was thoroughly fatigued from the effort of shielding himself from the helix beam. In the distance, he saw Regigigas's fist hit the empty patch of earth where Mewtwo once stood, not aware that the combined helix beams had pushed him miles away. Waves of earth rose from the thunderous impact; the earth seemed to swallow an acre of forest. And this was not the work of Regigigas's strongest attack: Giga Impact.

Mewtwo swore he saw the landscape shift; if Regigigas had the strength to shift a tectonic plate, it would not surprise him. He had barely managed to evade the tsunamis of earth, the force severing and uprooting the surrounding trees outside the crater.

Regigigas vaulted out of the crater, landing on his feet. His arm was raised in expectation of something. Regirock burst from the earth and landed in his palm. The golem of stone curled up into a ball as Regigigas wound up for a pitch like a baseball player.

Mewtwo spotted Regigigas winding up for the pitch and quickly formed a shield. He had originally hoped that Regirock would crumble into gravel upon impact with his shield. But as the speeding boulder that was Regirock came into view, he was forced to reconsider; Regirock's body was glowing a brilliant white. He looked more like a ball of plasma than a boulder.

Regirock's high pitched beeps became more frequent and louder as he closed the distance between Regigigas and Mewtwo. Soon the beeps became a loud persistent whine. As Regirock used his Explosion attack, Mewtwo was blown out of the sky, landing roughly in the crater excavated by the powerful shockwave of the blast. He levitated himself to his feet and looked around for the other opponents. The air was heavy with choking quantities of sand. The sand gently rained over the ground. In a few seconds, rocks flew from the earth, shaping and reforming themselves into the golem of stone.

Thunderous shockwaves and brilliant flashes of light were the only hints of Regigigas's actions from where Mewtwo and Regirock were. Avalanches tore through the forest in waves and quakes shook the earth.

Mewtwo immediately formed a quivering blue orb forming between his palms and launched it at Regirock. The Aura Sphere tore through Regirock's "face", decapitating him and leaving the golem immobile for a few seconds. He blindly stomped around as his head slowly reformed. Spears of stone flew from the ground, attempting to strike Mewtwo, who shot out of the deep crater like a rocket after he blasted the golem with his Aura Sphere.

Mewtwo had just reached the top border of the crater when Registeel slammed into his shield with an Iron Head Attack. Both Mewtwo and the golem of steel plunged several meters onto a small cliff.

Mewtwo made the first move; a glowing cerulean blade materialized in his hand as he charged forward. In mere seconds, he had disproved the long-standing "fact" about Registeel's body being indestructible; the glowing blade of his Psycho Cut plunged into Registeel's face. He pulled the psychic blade out and prepared for another attack. Not surprisingly, the wound did not bleed but strangely, the innards of Registeel appeared to be hollow. He wondered if any of the Regis could be killed.

The golem of steel warbled angrily; the surviving "eyes" on his face flashing crimson. A massive silver beam flew from his "face" right at Mewtwo. Mewtwo quickly dispelled his psionic blade and put up his barrier to block the Flash Cannon. Before he could "draw" his psionic blade again, a vortex of crimson fire engulfed Registeel and good portion of the surrounding forest. Ho-oh then landed in front of Mewtwo. He searched for his targets, which were now veiled in the flames that engulfed them.

"I'm beginning to wonder whether your ability to follow my commands to the letter will be a hindrance or an asset. My order still stands; do not kill Regigigas…Yet," Ho-oh ordered.

Ho-oh awaited Mewtwo to acknowledge his order by means of a curt nod.

"I shall amend the last orders I gave you. Feel free to evade any attacks thrown at you, especially if they prove too difficult to deflect or block safely. Focus on Regigigas. I shall deal with his minions," Ho-oh ordered. He did not bother to check if Mewtwo had acknowledged his command before he flapped his wings, rising into the air. The intense wind from his wings turned the fire cyclone into a destructive fire tsunami that engulfed even more of the surrounding forest.

Regice emerged from the inferno, the ground below him simultaneously melting and freezing. Ho-oh gave one last glance over his feathery shoulder, but found that Mewtwo was no longer there.

Mewtwo was indeed powerful, but his total dependence on Ho-oh's orders severely limited his powers. His orders had to be thorough and constant, as Mewtwo lacked any autonomy and was unable to battle on his own or adapt to the battle conditions. Despite Mewtwo's nearly limitless psychic powers, he was completely helpless unless someone was to give him commands.

Regigigas was several acres miles away from where Mewtwo had been fighting his three guardians. The once pristine tundra was now barren and scorched wasteland; a testament to the ferocity of the battle between the Mover of Continents and Lord of the Skies.

"So he's sent you to fight me?" Regigigas said nonchalantly as Mewtwo hovered before him. "I'm not surprised that he got tired of the little charade we had going. But he's about to get a taste of his own medicine with my creations."

Mewtwo's response was to aim his palm at the Pokémon colossus. Regigigas quickly shot a red bolt at Mewtwo. The Confuse Ray temporarily blinded Mewtwo. His attempt at trying to restrain Regigigas with Psychic rewarded him with a splitting headache.

While Mewtwo was incapacitated, Regigigas struck. To his surprise, his burning fist struck nothing but open air. He spotted Mewtwo out of the corner of his "eyes" and swung his free arm behind himself, only to strike empty air again. He waited for Mewtwo to show himself. He did not have to wait long as Mewtwo appeared before him. Another flaming punch flew towards Mewtwo, who blinked out of existence and appeared above him.

Regigigas continued flailing at Mewtwo with his fists. None of his blows landed but they at least forced him to keep teleporting, making him unable to concentrate enough to use his attacks. Regigigas was starting to tire, his Fire Punch attacks kept striking nothing but empty air as Mewtwo rapidly teleported around him.

As soon as his arms dropped to his sides, Mewtwo appeared behind him and sheathed him in a glowing cerulean aura. Once again, the Mover of Continents was held aloft and displayed like a trophy. All Mewtwo had to do was await Ho-oh's command.

The battle between the Legendary Golems and Ho-oh further tore apart the already ravaged landscape. Various energy attacks lanced out from the battlefield and flew into the sky or shredded the land. The forest itself was on fire, making the landscape even more hellish.

Ho-oh ducked under Regice's Ice Beam and launched a river of flames in retaliation. The two attacks collided in a blast of superheated steam that enveloped the battlefield. Before Ho-oh could attack again, Regirock burst from the ground beneath him, his body spinning like a drill. Registeel rode an enormous glass pillar back to the battlefield.

Ho-oh quickly leapt back, Regirock's attack shaving off a few feathers from his breast. He had managed to dodge Regice's attack and place Regirock in the path of the Ice Beam. Regirock was struck by the beam and immediately entombed in a massive block of ice. The crimson dots that lit up Regice's face and his screech were the only indications of his rage. The tower of glass shattered with a mighty crash and explosion as Registeel fired his Hyper Beam at his feet, using the explosion to catapult him high into the air. His body was scorched black from the powerful blast but he was otherwise unharmed.

The dots on Regice's face flashed crimson in a particular pattern; his body turned and followed Ho-oh's movements. He extended both his arms and almost immediately, arcs of yellow lightning began to play between his them. At the same time, gravity was pulling Registeel down from the skies. His metallic arm reared back to strike Ho-oh. He easily dodged Registeel's Hammer Arm, only to realize that not only was the Hammer Arm not intended for him but that he had moved straight into the path of Regice's Zap Cannon. Regice seized his opportunity and fired at the same time Registeel slammed his metallic fist into Regirock's frozen prison, shattering it and freeing the golem of stone within.

Ho-oh disappeared as the crackling electric sphere slammed into him and detonated, enveloping him in a blinding maelstrom of lightning. The Legendary Golems now turned their attention to their creator, who was now in Mewtwo's grasp. They paid no attention to the Ho-oh's charred corpse landing on the ground with a sickening _plop-crunch_ noise.

The dots on the Legendary Golems' faces blinked red in rage. The golems lined up in preparation for their deadliest attack: the Regivolt Cannon. Registeel took up the rear; he placed his hands on the ice spikes on Regice's back. Regice stretched out his arms and placed them on Regirock's shoulders. Finally, Regirock knelt down like a rifleman, placed his one of his arms atop the other and aimed squarely at Mewtwo

Mere seconds later, Registeel prepared to fire his Zap Cannon. Minute yellow arcs of electricity danced all over their bodies as each channeled the current into the other; the current rising in amperage and voltage as it passed from each golem to the next. Finally, the powerful current reached Regirock, who formed it into a massive yellow orb of lighting. Miniature lightning bolts danced within the lightning orb. Finally, Registeel launched the massive orb, sending it speeding over the landscape at Mewtwo

Mewtwo psychically tossed Regigigas into a distant mountainside, causing yet another massive avalanche. Just before the massive sphere of the deadly Regivolt Cannon reached him, he sheathed himself in a psychic shield. The impact of the electric sphere was like a thousand lightning bolts striking at the same time. Webs of lightning danced across Mewtwo's psychic orb, stray bolts tore up the land and fused the ground into a glassy plain, glowing red from the heat of the electricity.

His shield was no match for the millions of volts that struck it. The burning electrical lance penetrated the barrier and struck him. There was brilliant flash of blue-white light as Mewtwo was charbroiled by the intense electrical attack.

At the origin of the attack, several miles away from Mewtwo, the formation used to fire the destructive attack broke apart. The aftermath of the attack, an enormous trench in the middle of the forest with trees around it flattened and burning was insignificant compared to the amount of damage that had previously befallen the forest.

Registeel broke off the ice that had formed on his palms. Regirock discarded the frozen rocks on his back and replaced them with whatever rocks were nearby, not caring if the rocks had been scorched black.

A golden lance of energy shot out from one the remnants of the many avalanches that had occurred. Regigigas slowly dug himself out from underneath hundreds of tons of snow, preparing to continue the fight.

Mewtwo's scorched body was still, giving the impression that he was dead. Suddenly, it was wreathed in a sapphire aura. As Mewtwo used Recover, the burnt skin began to slough off. He made a fist and the rest of him almost literally fell off, revealing his uninjured body. He wheezed from the exhaustion; Recover was an energy intensive move. He flew back to the original battle site, ready to take on the three Legendary Golems, per his orders.

Ho-oh took to the skies once more, again surviving what should have been fatal injuries. Regigigas finally dug himself out of his snowy prison and prepared for battle against the power-crazed Legendary.

Regirock had only taken a few steps towards his master when something tore through him and reduced him to a shower of gravel and some scattered rubble. The cerulean dart continued on its path of destruction.

A few seconds later, sonic boom tore through air, rattling anything nearby.

The dart headed towards Registeel, revealing Mewtwo at its tip. Registeel charged a Hyper Beam, mere inches from Mewtwo's face. He quickly decelerated, hovered above Registeel, and psychically aimed the golem of steel towards Regice. As soon as Mewtwo was finished with his manipulations, Registeel's Hyper Beam fired, leveling yet another section of forest and striking Regice.

Mewtwo immediately used his psychic powers to seize Registeel's wrists. A sapphire aura surrounded the golem of steel as Mewtwo simultaneously pulled at his opponent's arms and pushed against Registeel's back. Slowly but surely, Registeel's arms began to stretch, the metal screeching in protest and Registeel beeping frantically. With a loud metallic snap, Mewtwo's efforts were rewarded as both arms came free from their mountings. He psychically held both of Registeel's arms before him like trophies.

Registeel staggered upwards and faced the one who had ripped off his arms. A series of shrill beeps came forth and the "eyes" on Registeel flashed crimson. Mewtwo psychically bent the metallic fingers into fists. He immediately began pummeling Registeel with a relentless barrage of punches and chops, using severed arms as boxing gloves. More dents marred the metallic body as Mewtwo thrashing Registeel with his own appendages. The golem of steel began to crumple like a tin can as he was being assaulted by the only thing capable of damaging him: his own body.

Suddenly, Mewtwo spun around, Registeel's left arm whirling around him. The flying blade that was Registeel's arm struck the regenerated Regirock. Hard stone proved no match for cold steel and Regirock was again reduced to a pile of rubble. Registeel made one last desperate attempt to fire another Hyper Beam at his assailant.

Mewtwo reacted immediately, pointing at Registeel. With a twitch of his fingers, he sent the metallic appendage flying at Registeel like some spear. The speeding appendage skewered Registeel's "face" and knocked him to the ground. The Hyper Beam soared into the sky like a pillar of orange light. Mewtwo seized Registeel – or what was left of him – and began to crumple him up like a wad of aluminum foil. But despite all the abuse that Registeel took, he was still alive, somehow.

Regirock had finally reformed once more and prepared to strike Mewtwo with his stony fists. Mewtwo quickly flung the cannonball that was the golem of steel at Regirock, reducing him to rubble yet again.

It didn't take long for Mewtwo to find Regice, the golem of ice. A blue aura surrounded him as he was lifted into the air by Mewtwo's awesome psychic powers. Mewtwo then attempted to crush him. As Mewtwo applied more pressure, Regice's body began to fracture and split. Regice gave one last shrill warbling beep before he was reduced to powder snow that gently dusted the ravaged landscape.

As Ho-oh prepared another Fire Blast attack, something caught his eye. The pair of blue gems embedded in the Regigigas's midsection cracked, then shattered completely, leaving only the silver and red gems behind.

Regigigas froze, his attention suddenly turning to where Mewtwo had been battling his creations.

Mewtwo soared above the forest – or what was left of it. Floating at his sides were a crumpled ball of metal, and the still form of Regirock. Ho-oh could not suppress his delight; he smiled sadistically as he looked at Regigigas. The white titan's dots remained black, his "face" did not betray any sort of emotion. Ho-oh shifted his attention between Regigigas and Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo, holding them will not be necessary anymore, dispose of them and restrain Regigigas," Ho-oh commanded.

One of Mewtwo's hands clenched into a fist, the other moved down. Regirock was instantly crushed into sand; Registeel, or what was left of him, hurtled towards the earth. Before Registeel had touched the ground, Mewtwo appeared before Regigigas, shackling the titan in psychic restraints for the third and final time.

Regirock was starting to reassemble when Ho-oh gave Mewtwo a new order. "Mewtwo, destroy the red gems on Regigigas's body, without damaging him if possible," he barked.

Mewtwo made a small gesture. Almost immediately, the red jewels cracked and exploded into a shower of red fragments. Regirock stood before them, ready to fight. But there was one noticeable change; the dots on his "face" gradually faded out of existence. The golem of stone stood for a few moments before he collapsed into a pile of sand, which was gradually scattered by the icy winds.

Ho-oh smiled. His guess was correct; the Legendary Golems were tied to their creator. As long as the gems on Regigigas's body were intact, they could not be killed – with the exception of Regice.

"Now the silver gems!" Ho-oh barked. He was delighted; now that Regigigas's protectors were out of commission, he was completely at his mercy.

Mewtwo complied. The silver gems cracked and exploded into a cloud of glittering dust. The golem of steel – or what was left of him – was now merely a heap of scrap metal.

Ho-oh gazed at the mutilated landscape, once a peaceful vista of mountains and forests veiled in a snowy cloak of the purest white. Now all that remained were deep trenches gouged in the earth, smoldering forests, stark mountain peaks, piles of rubble and desolate, glassy plains where nothing would ever grow again. Ho-oh gave a mental sigh; he had wanted to avoid damaging the environment, but he reminded himself that sacrifices were necessary to achieve his goal. He only hoped that there wouldn't be too many sacrifices.

Regigigas was silent once more; Ho-oh wondered whether it was due to the shock of his defeat or seeing his creations being destroyed before his very eyes.

"It matters not," Ho-oh muttered. He perched on the shimmering rainbow platform that appeared from thin air, courtesy of Mewtwo. He was perched above Regigigas, letting him look down upon the Mover of Continents. He cleared his throat. "As you can see, I can kill you at any moment," he said. "But I prefer to avoid more bloodshed if possible. I prefer that you give me the orb of creation. I shall let you live if you do so. But I am prepared to kill you and take the orb. So what will it be?"

Regigigas remained silent for a few seconds, his "eyes" blinking various colors. "I believe I was very clear when I said that I cannot give you the orb," he said calmly.

Ho-oh gave a patronizing smile. "Now, now, Regigigas, let's not be rash," he said, gesturing with his wing to the pile of scrap metal that was the golem of steel. "I hold all the cards now. You have no more subordinates, while I still have one – a very powerful one at that. My patience is wearing thin and I would be most delighted if you handed over your orb of creation; that is all I ask. I am giving you the chance to live, take it before I change my mind."

"Ho-oh, it's not a matter of wanting to give you the orb, not that I would give it to you…if I had it."

Ho-oh's eyes widened, the lower half of his beak slightly dropping in horrific realization. He moved his beak but no words came out.

"I can't give you the orb, because I don't have it," Regigigas said. "I'm not the original Regigigas."

Ho-oh ground his beak together in rage. He could feel the roaring flames making his way up his throat. "If you don't have it, why didn't you say so! Did you intend to force me to destroy what could have been part of my new world!" he screamed.

"Celebi came to me before you did. She told me what you planned to do and what my fate was to be if I fought you."

Ho-oh was flabbergasted at Regigigas's words. "You fought me knowing you would die? Why!" he demanded.

"Because I knew I had to try and stop you and your plans – even at the cost of my own life. Even if you were to kill me now, I die knowing that I was able to slow you down. According to Celebi, Lugia has already gotten the orb of creation from the original Regigigas and has long since departed Sinnoh."

Ho-oh let out a screech of rage; roiling flames issued forth from his beak and struck a patch of ground, melting it into a glowing red plain of glass. He glared at Regigigas with daggers in his eyes.

Regigigas could only chuckle at Ho-oh's tantrum, Mewtwo remaining expressionless throughout the entire affair.

"You speak of a new age of peace and prosperity. But look around. This is not the mark of an age of peace and prosperity; it is the mark of an age of hatred, bloodshed and total war," he said calmly.

Ho-oh disdainfully spat a small ember at the feet of the white titan. "Your words mean nothing to me. A new age is dawning and I shall be its emissary. This is not my age; it is an age for all Pokémon!" he shouted.

He nodded at Mewtwo, who nodded back obediently. They prepared to head off to their next destination. As Ho-oh thought back at Regigigas before Mewtwo killed him, he could've sworn that he saw the white titan somehow smile.

* * *

**Next, Chapter 8: Root**


	8. Roots

**I would like to thank my beta reader, Jakayrta, again for the assistance in not only this chapter**

* * *

The Tree of Beginning stood silent and eternally watchful beneath the curtain of night that veiled the sky. But the unmoving exterior belied the magnitude of the events within its stony halls.

Deep inside the tree's winding tunnels was a subterranean Eden. This was chosen by Lugia to be the meeting grounds for the Legendaries. The crystal chandelier affixed to the roof of the cave bathed everyone in an otherworldly cerulean glow. There was no sound save the sound of the swift streams and thundering waterfalls. In sharp contrast to the beauty that surrounded them, the atmosphere was positively Stygian with stifling heat and nearly palpable tension. In the middle of the circle of Legendaries lay a single golden orb. The orb glowed with an intense light that rivaled that from the Sun.

Lugia surveyed his audience with a sweeping glance. He was quite impressed by the number of Legendaries who had decided to join him. While they clearly outnumbered Ho-oh and his crusaders, the Guardian of the Skies and his forces still held the upper hand in terms of raw power.

"It has been a long time since we have gathered like this," Lugia said.

"I see old faces-" Lugia glanced at Groudon, amazed that the base of the "tree" could comfortably accommodate his bulk "-and some new faces." His gaze briefly rested on Latias and others veiled in shadow.

"Enough small talk, let's just get to the point of this," Groudon bellowed. The entire chamber shook with the sheer power of his voice.

"I second that, less time we spend roasting in this room, the better," Articuno said, casting a sour look at Groudon, whose very presence made the waters steam and the trees wilt. "I do not see why this could not be held outside," she mumbled under her breath.

"Understood, then let us make this brief," Lugia replied. The intense heat was starting to make him perspire. "Due to my history with Ho-oh, I believe I should lead this discussion. If any of you disagree, please speak now."

Lugia paused and scanned the room. Whether they all believed he should lead the discussion or the smothering heat made them forgo any arguments that would make them endure the heat any longer than necessary, they remained unanimously mute.

"Then I shall begin. Are all of us here aware of why we have gathered, of what has transpired? If there are any questions or doubts you may have, please voice them and I will do my best to answer and explain," he said.

Groudon sighed, causing the chamber to get hotter, if that were even possible. "I'm only really here because Kyogre's on the opposing side. I tuned out a lot of I was told and I only have a vague idea of what's going on," he said.

"You joined us without even knowing what we are fighting for!" Mesprit cried incredulously. She rapidly became aware of every pair of eyes sliding onto her; she blushed and excused herself for her emotional outburst.

The piercing eyes shifted from Mespirit onto Groudon. The subsequent silence was almost as stifling as the heat.

"I'm not completely in the dark. I heard what Ho-oh said, and I can guess at his reasons for doing this and how he got Kyogre to join him. All of us have seen what humans have done," he continued, breaking the silence. He had apparently started the meeting off on a bad foot and now he was doing his best to save face in front of the other Legendaries.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, Ho-oh made several sound arguments that I cannot refute," Lugia said. Instantly, the judging eyes bored into him, making him rather uncomfortable.

"…but, I do not approve of his methods," he continued, instantly the judging eyes stopped boring into him. "I had hoped this could have been a battle of ideas, without needless bloodshed, but I realize now that words cannot stop the battles that are to come."

"Fine by me, I'd like ta take another crack at my old rival. If I can thank Ho-oh for anything, it's for feeling like I'm at a hundred percent," Groudon said, scraping his razor-edged claws against each other and throwing off showers of sparks that fell to the ground like comets. The black glyphs on his body started to glow a dull red like iron heated in a forge.

The other Legendaries – including Lugia himself – shot disapproving looks at the Lord of the Continents.

"What? You all have reasons for being here, probably because you've been on good terms with humans before," Groudon countered. "I myself haven't really mingled with them, but consider yerselves lucky I'm on yer side. I could easily remain neutral if Kyogre didn't keep tryin' ta expand his territory, but I know him better than that. The greedy bastard isn't content with having 70 percent of the planet's surface; he'll find some way of expandin' his domain."

The other Legendaries were not impressed and their judgmental eyes still bored into Groudon.

Groudon quickly decided to try a different tact. "He joined because his creation is fragile and easily tainted by the humans. My creations are not as such, earth is strong and durable. No matter what the humans do, they can't hurt my pride and joy. Trees and grass, they aren't really within my jurisdiction, they merely live upon my creation, so the humans can do whatever they like with the plants. The closest I've ever gotten to makin' a tree is what we're standin' in right now," he said.

That did the trick; the Legendaries no longer cast their disapproving glares at Groudon. Instead, they gazed reverently at the cavern that they were in.

"Then for those of you who were not completely informed, I shall explain," Lugia said. "Ho-oh has used an orb of creation to undo something within our bodies. Inside a section of our brains is something that works as a dampener for our elemental abilities and physical strength. As for why these were put in place to begin with, I do not know. With this dampener gone, we have become, in essence, stronger and more deadly. A regular Pokémon can now easily kill a human, which is why Ho-oh sent a message along with the removal of the dampeners, a message which I assume you have all heard."

Every Legendary in the room nodded in agreement.

"Ho-oh intends to wipe out all the humans on the planet," the Legendaries said nearly simultaneously.

"The removal of these dampeners also seems to have unleashed the baser instincts of all Pokémon. The call to the hunt has become irresistible and they've developed a taste for blood," Cresselia added, the curtain of darkness drifting off her form.

"That would certainly help Ho-oh's cause. Even if the wild Pokémon do not swear their allegiance to him, they will kill humans regardless, helping Ho-oh further his plans," Zapdos said.

"What could have possibly provoked Ho-oh to do such a thing?" Moltres asked.

"It began long ago when the humans worshiped Ho-oh, building a tower for him in his honor. Then, a group of humans decided to capture Ho-oh. He managed to escape but his tower was destroyed in the process and three Pokémon perished in the flames. Ho-oh bought those three back to life. Those three became the Legendary Dogs: Raikou – Emperor of Storm Clouds; Entei – the Flame Emperor; and Suicune – the Wind Rider. After the destruction of the tower, he came to me, enraged at what had transpired. I managed to calm him down, but since that day he was never the same," Lugia replied.

The gathered Legendaries said nothing but nodded.

"…I believe this event is what he originally had in mind. I urged him to reconsider and convinced him to find humans that were pure of heart. I assured him that there were many in the world. I cannot recall if I believed my own words or if I merely said that in order to give him something to vent out his rage," Lugia continued.

"So, I'm guessing Ho-oh didn't find enough pure hearted humans?" Groudon replied with chuckle. No one in the cavern seemed to find this even remotely amusing. In fact, a few of the Legendaries looked offended.

"These creation orbs? What is the extent of their power?" Darkrai asked, emerging from the pool of blackness beside Cresselia. Every eye shifted to the floating, glowing orb in the center of the room.

"The orbs of creation were bestowed upon us by Arceus. We were created with the use of a creation orb. Regigigas, Ho-oh, and I were given six. For whatever reason, the rest of you were given a different amount of creation orbs, some of you received none. As their name implies, the orbs of creation are capable of not only creating something or someone, but creating out of nothing. They are also capable of taking something or someone that already exists and turning it into something else, such as my Legendary Birds and Ho-oh's Legendary Dogs," Lugia said.

"If that's true, what stopped Ho-oh from using the orbs of creation to wipe out the humans?" Zapdos asked.

"I do not know. I am, however, quite sure that very same idea had crossed Ho-oh's mind. Were it possible he would have done it, and none of us would be having this discussion. My guess is that the orbs of creation can never be used to kill."

"Couldn't we use this orb of creation to undo Ho-oh's previous wish?" Latias asked.

"I'll admit that was the first thing I attempted when I first received the orb from Regigigas. But as you can see, the orb is still here, and we can still feel the power running through our veins. It seems that the orb of creation cannot undo a wish made by another orb. It also seems that Ho-oh was careful in the wording of his wish and made it impossible to use a loophole like recreating the dampeners in all Pokémon," the Guardian of the Seas replied.

"So that leaves us with an orb of creation-" Moltres mumbled.

"-And with countless possibilities with how to use it, but no clue which to use," Zapdos added.

"And we only get one shot at this, so whatever we decide to do with it better be worth it," Articuno said solemnly.

"Regardless of what we decide to do, the fact remains, we cannot stop what Ho-oh has set in motion. Whatever our final decision ends up being, it should be made towards aiding us in the upcoming struggles as preventing this crisis is now impossible," Lugia said.

Silence filled the room and smothered them like the sweltering heat that radiated off the crimson behemoth. The silence continued for several minutes becoming even more unbearable than the rising temperature. Several times, one of the Legendaries opened their mouths to speak, only for the words to refuse to leave their throats and they went back to contemplating what to use their wish.

The quiet began to unsettle Latias; she would've preferred that everyone speak their minds, openly debate ideas and work towards a common goal than remain mute in uncertainty and continue in hushed deliberation.

_Am I not a hypocrite though? Can I not voice this suggestion to the rest_? She thought.

Latias surveyed the other Legendaries, deep in thought. But the more she looked; the more insignificant and small she felt, even next to Mew. Her overwhelming sense of inferiority could not be shaken; everyone in the room seemed so much stronger and more useful than her. She wondered whether her brother would have been more suited for this kind of meeting. In her earliest memories she recalled the first time that their father had called upon her and her brother to guard the city while he was gone. She could only guess that he had gone to something similar to this.

She felt misplaced in this reunion of titans, all known for their contribution to this world or for their power. She was not a creator like Groudon or Mesprit; she was not a great guardian like Lugia or the Regis.

_What can I do_? _I can sight-share, but what good is it if my brother's gone? I can become invisible, but Mew can already do that. I can turn into a human, but Mew can probably do that too. Heck, he can turn into any Pokémon he wants. _Latias thought.

Latias glanced at Mesprit and Mew, everyone owing the former for their emotions and respecting the latter for the potential he had to defeat them all. Aside from them, she was the smallest of this gathering, and even though she was physically bigger than Mesprit and Mew, they still held a higher position of importance and were far more powerful than she could hope to be.

Suddenly, a golden portal opened above the orb of creation and Celebi appeared before the council of Legendaries. She spun around in place, giving her a brief glance of her audience.

"For someone who can travel through time, you're pretty late," Darkrai sneered.

"Thought I would drop by and give you all one last heads up before I le-is it hot in here or is it just me?" Celebi said, wiping off a newly born bead of sweat from her brow. She was answered by every pair of eyes glancing at Groudon. The crimson titan cast his gaze to the floor and mumbled something about how he can't help it. Articuno began to gently flap her wings, the frigid winds canceling out the heat. She wondered why she hadn't done that sooner.

"Anyway, from the looks of it, everyone who wants to help the humans is here," Celebi said. Her focus rested on Regigigas and she began to stare at him.

"Well, almost everyone," she added.

"And what does that mean?" Regigigas asked. The dots upon his 'face' flashed frantically.

Celebi sighed. This was not going to be pleasant. "I hate being the bearer of bad news, but Ho-oh and Mewtwo have killed the other Regigigas and his Regi trio," she said.

The dots on Regigigas's face flashed blood red. With a roar, he slammed his fist against the pillar behind him, which was crushed to rubble. It was hard to believe that he had only put a fraction of his strength behind the blow.

"Careful," Groudon warned. There was only so much he could overlook from one of the only Pokémon he considered his friend.

"I…I apologize, I could not help myself. But…to know he's gone…"

Latias said nothing as she saw Regigigas's outburst. She sympathized with the pale titan; she too had lost a brother.

"Ho-oh will not get away with this! I came here as neutral, but no longer!" Regigigas bellowed. The Regi trio at his feet scattered and kept a safe distance from their enraged master. Mesprit swiftly flew up to Regigigas and gently touched his side, drawing out his anger like venom from a wound.

"Mewtwo?" Mew chirped from his corner of the chamber.

Everyone turned to the pink Legendary; throughout the entire discussion he had not uttered a word. Being so small and quiet had made him invisible.

Celebi turned to Mew. She was afraid of another outburst from Regigigas but she said it nonetheless. "Yes…Ho-oh _and_ Mewtwo killed the other Regigigas and the Regi trio," she said with a sigh. The expected roar of rage and the sound of another pillar breaking never materialized.

"What's a 'Mewtwo'?" Groudon asked.

"Mewtwo?" Mew said again, his voice now a mixture of bewilderment and confusion.

Lugia cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the every Legendary in the room. "Mewtwo is Mew's clone, created by the humans but I do not know any more than that. Ho-oh has used his final orb to make Mewtwo do his bidding," he said.

"The orb of creation can go against free will?" Cresselia cried out.

Mesprit's attention suddenly shifted, her thoughts traveling to Azelf and how his ability was similar.

"No, the orb of creation has no power over free will, but Ho-oh found a loophole and used his orb of creation to have complete control over Mewtwo's body. Mewtwo is now a slave and puppet to Ho-oh's demands. He is an extremely powerful psychic Pokémon, capable of completely restraining Kyogre and me at the same time. Due to the fact that Ho-oh used an orb of creation to take control of him, I do not believe Mewtwo agreed with his plans," Lugia replied.

"Mewtwo," Mew whispered sadly before he grew quiet for a moment.

Latias shivered from the emotional spike. Her powerful empathic abilities allowed her to feel the emotions around her but the intense emotions in the air were too much to handle. Her heart beat faster and her eyes dilated before she could even recognize that what she was experiencing: fear.

Almost immediately, Mew's playful and childish demeanor dissolved and revealed a far darker side to him. His baby blue eyes turned a solid bright pink then darkened several shades into an ominous amethyst. The crystal chandelier above them and the crystals jutting from the walls and floor of the cave turned the same shade as Mew's eyes. The others could not see it but the crystals that adorned the tree and land for miles around changed accordingly to Mew's mood.

Streams of purple light erupted out of every crystal and danced along the rock walls. Anyone on the outside of the tree would have seen purple lights lancing into the sky like so many searchlights. Lavender rivers danced along the Tree of Beginning's rocky surface like veins.

"Ho-oh," Mew said with hatred burning in his eyes. Before he could do anything else, Mespirt flew from Regigigas and tackled Mew. Almost instantly, the purple aura around him faded and the crystals returned to their cerulean luster. The Legendaries eyed Mesprit; her arms were wrapped around Mew in a tight embrace. Mew's expression was blank, his eyes half-lidded.

Once she was sure that she had drawn out all of his anger, she quietly withdrew and gave Mew space. The pink Legendary floated off the ground, his emotions pouring back into him.

"Thank you," Lugia said, giving a curt nod to Mesprit who smiled back in return.

Each Legendary backed away from Mew – even the creator of the Tree of Beginning, Groudon. The display of power by Mew served as a reminder that as long as they were within the "tree", they were in his domain. Surprised murmurs spread through out the Legendaries; Mew was never known for becoming enraged, angry of course, but never to the extent or magnitude of which they had just witnessed. Latias began to calm down as she registered Mew's calm state, but she remained wary of him, as did everyone. No longer would they underestimate Mew.

Lugia was grateful for Mesprit's presence, he wasn't sure whether Mew even knew about the existence of his clone but he decided not to tell him, unsure as to how Mew would've reacted to the news.

"Mewtwo is a good Pokémon, he would never agree to this!" Mew exclaimed.

"We know Mew, which is why Ho-oh must be stopped," Lugia said.

"Couldn't we use this orb of creation to give Ho-oh a taste of his own medicine? Why not control him?" Zapdos asked.

"Doing so would make us no better than him and it would not change anything."

"But if we do control him, can't we force him to call off his attacks?"

Lugia shook his head. "Controlling Ho-oh will not stop the wild Pokémon from attacking, because if Cresselia is right, the Pokémon will attack of their own accord regardless of Ho-oh's commands."

"The wild Pokémon have made their first strike, thousands of humans have died already. With no form of explaining this situation to all the humans quickly, the humans will simply interpret this as a declaration of war and retaliate in kind once they become organized," Celebi said the group.

"Surely the humans must have a leader of some sort. Do we know who and where they are?" Moltres asked. She found that all the Legendaries held their tongue.

"What is to be the fate of the humans under my protection?" Latias asked. She hoped that Lorenzo, Bianca and all of Altomare would be protected while she fought this war.

"I am also concerned about that prospect as well," Darkrai added. Like Latias, he too, had a location and humans to protect: Alice and Alamos Town.

Lugia thought back to the people of Shamouti Island; he had not taken their safety into consideration. There were no native oceanic or flying Pokémon that could crawl onto land and attack the people there. For the time being, the Shamoutian Islanders were safe.

"Is there no place where we can keep the humans safe?" Cresselia asked. She was not addressing anyone in particular but she welcomed other thoughts.

"Why not here?" Mew replied. Everyone breathed a near visible sigh of relief to see that Mew had calmed down.

_**Mew nearly lost his life because humans tampered with the Tree of Beginning.**_ Ho-oh's words echoed through Lugia's mind.

"Mew, to offer this area as a safe haven for the humans is a noble sentiment, but didn't you nearly lose your life when humans came to the Tree of Beginning?" Lugia asked gently.

Mew threw Lugia a wounded gaze and the Regi trio, now at the foot of their master once more, stepped forward in unison.

"Bringing humans here would prove disastrous to the humans, Mew, and the Tree of Beginning," they said simultaneously.

Mew stared at the Regi trio with a sour expression. Despite being guardians of his domain; they never played or talked with him.

"Any damage the Tree of Beginning receives from something that isn't a Pokémon will cause its immune system to send antibodies that will capture any foreign substance and break it down."

The Regis motioned towards the hole in the room that Regigigas had created.

"Mew attempted to force the 'tree' to accept some humans as part of its body, but it went into shock as a result, nearly resulting in the death of the tree and the entire land. It will now accept these humans should they make it here, which is highly unlikely. Unlike Pokémon, two human brothers can have significant genetic diversity. The immune system can be made to accept one human brother, but the process would need to be repeated for the other brother to be accepted," they continued.

"This place is better suited to be a base of operations for _us_ anyway. We have the advantage; Ho-oh is unaware of our whereabouts. When humans aren't consuming resources, they're destroying things. I doubt this place would last long if we housed them. Besides, bringing humans here would attract attention to us, from Ho-oh and wild Pokémon alike," Groudon replied.

"But what are we to do about the humans that are safe for the time being! We cannot simply leave them to be attacked!" Cresselia cried.

"We do not have the numbers to protect them, nor a method to shepherd them rapidly to a safe haven," Zapdos replied.

"Certainly there must be some wild Pokémon that do not hate humans and would be willing to join our cause?" Articuno said, glancing around.

"Go and scour the forests, mountains, and seas for them if you must, but I do not trust that you will find many."

Lugia sifted through his memory for places where humans could be safe, but couldn't see anything large enough to house all the humans that they had in mind. The only place that was even remotely the needed size was Orre but it was an inhospitable desert wasteland.

"What if we use the orb of creation to contact all the Pokémon that would aid humans and ask them to protect the humans?" Latias suggested.

"Waste of a wish if you ask me," Groudon snarled.

"We could transport the humans somewhere safe," Moltres replied. She tried to keep her anger under control but tufts of flame kept escaping from her beak.

Regigigas shot a condescending look at the Firebird. "Where? The moon?" he replied scornfully. "There is no other place on this planet to place all the humans where Pokémon cannot reach, and even if there was, we would have to take into account the need to keep them nourished and dispose of their waste and-"

Celebi bit her lip as the Legendaries bickered amongst each other. As much as she wanted to divulge the knowledge she possessed concerning their fates and speak her own mind, she had made a solemn oath to not interfere. Mesprit caught Celebi's eye, the scarlet sprite floating up to her above the arguing Pokémon.

"You said that not everyone who wanted to help the humans was here, right? Who else are we waiting for?" Mesprit asked. "Uxie and Azelf are coming here, right? _Right_?"

Celebi said nothing but bowed her head and turned away. No words were needed to convey what she had found.

Mesprit backed away from the time traveling fairy, tears brimming at the corners of her wide, disbelieving eyes. "No…no…they…why would they…my brothers would…" Mesprit's voice began to crack.

Cresselia wrapped her glowing ring-like arms Mesprit's form in a tight embrace, doing her best to comfort the troubled sprite. Almost immediately, Cresselia's tender visage disappeared and became replaced with a blank stare fitting for one who represented the moon. Her hug weakened and her arms slackened before falling limply to her sides.

For the very Pokémon that had created emotion, Mesprit could never physically feel the affection of another. She moved away from the Moon Goddess, allowing emotion to fill her once again. Cresselia began to apologize when Mesprit raised her hand, halting her speech. This was not the first time this kind of thing had happened so an apology was unnecessary.

The scene ceased everyone's disputes, their sights switching to Celebi as she cleared her throat.

"The Pokémon who are now currently joined with Ho-oh are Mewtwo, Kyogre, Suicune, Entei, Raikou, Lugia's brother, Rayquaza, and Uxie. The Pokémon who've decided not to partake in this battle are Heatran, Shaymin, Azelf-" Celebi said.

"Cowards," Groudon spat, not caring that he interrupted something quite important.

"-and myself" Celebi continued, directing her glare to the crimson titan of earth who quickly bit his tongue.

Mesprit's eyes widened once more. "Uxie joined Ho-oh!" she cried.

"I asked as to why for your sake. He said that it was the most logical thing to do."

The news struck Mesprit at her very core. She knew her brother well enough to know that there was no denying it; that was exactly what he would say in this sort of scenario. She knew in her heart that what Ho-oh was doing was wrong, but her brother was cold and calculating.

"And-" Mesprit began.

"Azelf?" Celebi cut in. "I talked to him as well. He felt that his powers made him too powerful for this kind of war and didn't want to take part in it."

Mesprit understood her brother's reasoning, Azelf's decision not as jarring as Uxie's decision. Granted, it was easier to take the news of a sibling remaining neutral over the news of a sibling joining the enemy.

"What can Azelf do exactly?" Darkrai asked.

Mesprit was unable to answer as she was still in shock.

"Azelf has the ability to undo a person's free will and control them much like Ho-oh is doing to Mewtwo. Only he doesn't need an orb of creation. He can do by just by being in their presence. He can leave his body and possess a human or Pokémon, overtaking their will. With the dampeners off, Azelf is core of free will. If he is killed, all humans and Pokémon will lose their free will. Likewise, knowledge and emotions will be lost if Uxie and Mesprit, respectively, lose their lives. Because of this they won't be targeted, unless someone is mad enough to doom everyone," Celebi replied in Mesprit's place

Darkrai visibly shivered at the thought. Many of the Legendaries in the room found it somewhat funny that something had scared the Master of Nightmares. But their amusement hid their own fear.

_With the creator of all knowledge at his command, we will be at a significant disadvantage_. Lugia thought

"What of the other Legendaries? Did you ask them the reasons behind their neutrality?" Lugia asked. His eyes meeting Celebi's own for the second time that day.

"The Shaymin don't like fighting, some of them don't feel like they could contribute the fight, while others agree with Ho-oh, but not enough to join him. The Heatran don't really care since they don't see how it really affects them," Celebi replied.

"What of my kin?" Darkrai asked.

"As long as there are creatures that dream and have nightmares, nothing will change."

"Typical," the Master of Nightmares grumbled. He was the only Darkrai that had truly bonded with a human.

"Not like it matters, none of them are even real Legendaries," Groudon replied.

Darkrai's electric blue eye twitched and focused on Groudon. "Excuse me?" Darkrai snarled.

"A true Legendary would be one of a kind. The more there are of you, the less extraordinary you are and the less weight the title of 'Legendary' carries. Lugia and Regigigas are different, they were originally unique."

Darkrai seethed at Groudon's affront to his status. He was about to say something when Lugia cut him off.

"Regardless of rarity, we are all here as allies. And we are here as allies because we care about the humans and wish to help," Lugia said.

"Aside from that, anyone who I didn't mention, I wasn't able to contact. I'm pretty sure they've felt the effects wherever they are, but as for if they join the war or not…" Celebi said no more. She had already pushed the limit of what knowledge she was allowed to divulge.

"Thank you for you time Celebi."

Celebi's lips stretched and curved into a tender smile, her eyes full of regret and sympathy. "I'll leave you all to your decisions. I must be off," Celebi said. She then excused herself and darted past Lugia and into one of the tunnels that lead out the mountain.

"I will see her off, let us continue this in the morning," Lugia said. He then turned and headed out one of the rocky passageways. The sound of the Legendaries arguing resumed as soon as Lugia was out of sight.

Celebi cruised through the mountain's many passageways. She was well aware of her new silver shadow as she flew into the starry night. Her arms extended as she took a deep breath of the cool mountain air as Lugia perched on the mountainside behind her.

"Gotta love that mountain air," Celebi as said she forced a sad chuckle, her back still turned to Lugia.

"Is the time you're going to, before or after this whole affair?" Lugia asked.

"It's…" Celebi caught herself and turned to the Guardian of the Seas with a smirk on her face.

"Well aren't you the tricky one? You almost got me to answer with that!" she said playfully.

"Can you blame me for trying?" Lugia replied with a grin. The forest sprite pouted for a moment before a smile returned to her face.

"I guess I can't."

Celebi's eyes suddenly flitted from the leaves in the forest below to their celestial counterparts in the night above. "Everything's so beautiful tonight! It makes me wanna fly and sing and dance until I can't anymore!" she cried out.

_I wanna see one more sunset with him again_. She thought. She spun with glee at the thought before another, less pleasant thought, entered her head. Her arms inadvertently slumped to her sides. "But I can't-" she sighed dejectedly "-I have to go."

Lugia remained silent for nearly an entire minute, wondering what kind of conflict resided within Celebi.

"Once again, we cannot than-" Lugia stopped as Celebi's arms were suddenly wrapped around his pale, silver neck. She quickly released him, slowly floating upwards until she met him at eye level.

"This will be the last time I'll see you," she said, her voice cracking. Her eyes shimmered like wet glass. A golden portal formed behind her as she planted a small kiss on his forehead and turned away. A single tear escaped her before she entered the portal; Lugia's last image of her was the fluttering of her transparent wings before the golden ring closed behind her.

Lugia stood perched in silence, unsure how he should react to what had just happened.

Silver and his lifemate landed beside him, breaking his train of thought.

"Thank you for playing with Mew, had you not done so, I don't believe he would've attended the meeting or teleported Regigigas to the meeting once I returned," Lugia said.

Silver felt his father's wing wrap around him. "I wasn't the only one who played with Mew, Latias was a big help," Silver replied.

"I will have to thank her properly then."

Lugia then shifted his attention to his lifemate. "And thank you for getting my creations to come. I cannot fathom how you managed that," he said.

"A women's touch," she replied, nuzzling him.

"Father…what of the orb?" Silver asked.

Lugia furrowed his brow in thought. "I don't think the decision will be reached for a while, but hopefully it will not take too long."

His eyes locked onto the spot in the sky where Celebi had left. As he thought back to the meeting only minutes before, he could've sworn he had heard her say something and if he heard right, then he wondered the same thing. He wondered whether that was the most difficult thing for a sentient creature to do.

"Why couldn't we get along?" Lugia whispered into the night.

* * *

**The next chapter will be the last chapter for the legendary arc, so I want you guys to decide what the next arc should be. There's the Sinnoh Arc (Paul), and a second Johto arc (Drew, May, Harley). I'm gonna hold off the Orre Arc and Kanto arc for after I'm done with the arc that you guys have voted on. You can either place your vote in a PM or in your review of the chapter. By the end of the week I'll count the votes and begin plotting the arc in "Poke Wars: something or other ending with-ence." Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter.**


	9. Brave New World

Black seas churned around the small island, now barren of vegetation from years of enduring the abusive waters. The skies above were no less hostile, an obsidian-black landscape of fierce thunderheads.

"It is…here?" Ho-oh asked, his irritated tone matched the seas of black above and below them. Whispers of a storm ruffled his feathers, slivers of rain became more frequent. Ho-oh glowered at the puny island; no number of rebirths or healing techniques could mend his wounded pride. His plans had now been nearly derailed; he was beginning to grow desperate.

_But to think that would have to resort to this_? Ho-oh thought. He glanced at Mewtwo. The information that the clone had divulged during their gathering around the human radio tower was bittersweet. With Mewtwo's teleportation ability now evident, Ho-oh decided to utilize it to its fullest potential.

As a test, he had made Mewtwo send him back to Raikou's post and have him follow suit, completing hours of travel in seconds. Once he was sure that part of his plan had not been ruined, he commanded Mewtwo to teleport them once more to the place he had mentioned during their earlier conference.

Lugia was now under the possession of an orb of creation, with an alliance of Legendaries at his command and with the sole purpose of retaliating against him. He needed to gather more allies fast. And the sooner he utilized Kyogre's ace, the faster he could amass a force to stave off those who plan on attacking him. His own legendary alliance was powerful, but with his forces spread across the earth, their strength was greatly diminished. Even he had to admit that against the unified force of Lugia's army, Mewtwo could be conquered.

"Do it," the Guardian of the Skies ordered.

Mewtwo nodded, extending his hand over the tiny island and clenching it into a fist. The island crumbled like a dirt clod under the psionic powers that were applied to it. Suddenly, a massive structure materialized out of thin air before them. Ho-oh was caught off guard, leaping back in surprise upon the psychic platform procured by his puppet.

The iron blades of the towering windmills tasted gales once again, courtesy of the upcoming storm. Lights began to illuminate the dark voids of the towers within the stadium walls. Cobalt columns of stone rose from the depths as Mewtwo began to raise the long deserted building.

With his free hand, Mewtwo raised the earth from the ocean depths to support the abandoned fortress. Waves crashed against the island's stone border, the azure outline fading from the citadel seemingly conjured into existence by Ho-oh's psychic minion. Ho-on had to admit that the events that had just unfolded before him had enticed his interest.

"Won't you be a dear, Mewtwo, and take me inside for a tour," Ho-oh cooed in a sickly-sweet tone. Obviously, Mewtwo had no choice but to obey. The genetic Pokemon had been stripped of his home and his rights as a living creature, left with the only thing he could call his own: his name.

Mewtwo began to descend, hovering before the murky seas. All of a sudden, he thrust out his arm and the ocean parted beneath him, its floor veiled in shadows. Ho-oh glided down the pathway, walls of water towered above them. Mewtwo was already ahead of him, for he was waiting obediently at the base of some stone stairs. Pounding rain and roars of thunder could be heard as they climbed the exposed stairs; the storm outside had already begun.

For the first time since their "partnership", Ho-oh allowed Mewtwo to lead the way. They reached a large steel doorway; Mewtwo extended his arms, causing the door to fly open with such force that it nearly came off its hinges. As they passed through the door, they continued down a long abandoned stone hallway. The only sound was the clicking of Ho-oh's talons against the stony floor. Hues of every color decorated the hallway.

When they reached the end of the hallway they were treated to an interesting sight. Before them was what appeared to be a long deserted reception hall.

Pale light radiated from orbs atop bronze pedestals, a jumbled web of stone stood before an amber wall at the end of the chamber. The once beautiful fountains within the room had long since run dry. A path that coiled upwards to the top of the immense hall was suspended over a dry and empty basin. Right down the middle of the room was a stone table; flanked by chairs on each side. A thick layer of dust coated every inch of the chamber.

The suddenly well-lit room turned several shades darker, silence saturating the violet halls. That was when Ho-oh noticed that something was amiss: the raging storm outside had been quelled.

"Mewtwo, Stop. What's happening?" Ho-oh barked.

His puppet remained mute.

"Believe I can answer that," a voice said.

Ho-oh whirled around and found himself staring at gray eyelids.

Mewtwo remained motionless.

"Seems as though facility's power generated by windmills. Mewtwo originally powered the facility himself. Psychic powers used to create storms. Gales moved windmills. Storm outside now stopped. No wind. No power. Hence, blackout," the stranger said.

Ho-oh stared quizzically at the gray fairy floating before him, his features veiled in shadow.

"How do you know about Mewtwo?" Ho-oh asked.

"Read his mind. Unable to read yours at first. Hypothesis was concluded. Unaffected by Psychic abilities, therefore, dark type. First breed of Pokémon with three elemental attributes," Uxie replied. His quick bursts of speech were starting to annoy Ho-oh. But more importantly, he did not know the sprite's allegiance thus the sprite could be a potential danger to his plans.

And yet, what could he do? Before him was the creator of knowledge, attacking him would be suicide for not only him, but also every thinking creature in existence.

"Worry not. Here to join alliance," Uxie replied as if he had read Ho-oh's mind

If Uxie knew he was on the receiving end of Ho-oh's scrutinizing stare, he did not show it.

After several seconds of contemplating his motives, Ho-oh surrendered to his curiosity.

"…Why?" Ho-oh asked. He made no attempt to hide the obvious uncertainty in his voice.

"Interested by course of actions. Several theories as to end result. Difficult to calculate. Too many variables. Too many. Regardless, wish to tag along and see outcome. Motive behind actions logical in a sense. Will offer aid to see how this plays out."

"You agree with my cause?" Ho-oh asked. He was still suspicious of Uxie and especially his motivations.

"Said nothing of the sort. Merely curious as to outcome. Can easily watch and be neutral if aid unwanted," Uxie replied. He turned away and began hovering towards another exit in the reception hall.

Ho-oh opened his beak but rapidly closed it with a loud, echoing _click_. He had a bit of dilemma; he did not want to sound desperate for help but he could not afford to be picky when he was being offered help. "Your aid would be greatly appreciated," he said slowly.

"Good. Will get to work then," Uxie replied, hovering back to them and facing them if nothing had happened.

"Work?"

"Yes. Structural integrity of facility poor. Upgrades necessary. Will have to survey entire area to begin correcting architectural design. Aesthetically pleasing, but otherwise inappropriate for intended purposes,"

"I did not give you the order to-"

"Worry not. Already understand plan," Uxie replied.

Uxie's clipped speech patterns were starting to grate on Ho-oh's nerves. Having to continually look at Uxie's constantly closed eyes did not help matters. "How?" he asked. He made some attempt to hide the irritation in his voice but he was not doing a very good job of it.

"As said before. Read Mewtwo's mind. Memories of everything that has transpired up until now. Also, several vulgar and savage images and messages he would like to convey to you. Would prefer not to say out loud. Disapproves with the remodeling. Pointless now. Facility has been repurposed. No point in sacrificing efficiency for beauty. Waste. Ranting. Apologize. Back to subject at hand. Know everything about plan. Appears you are fighting against time."

"I am but-"

"Good. Mutual understanding. Will proceed to-"

"…but I would prefer if you consulted me before doing anything," Ho-oh said.

Uxie finally turned to face Ho-oh, a perplexed expression on his face. "Why? Unnecessary waste of time. Time spent talking could be used to help advance progress," Uxie replied.

Ho-oh now had to rapidly devise a way to get the All-Knowing to follow his instructions. "Communication is the key to any plan that involves a group, and although it may be slow, it would be rude to go and do things without consulting and informing the others," he said. He allowed himself a smirk, seeing as the sprites eyes seemed permanently closed.

"Etiquette pointless…" Uxie remained rooted to his spot in the air. After what felt like an eternity, a frustrated sigh escaped the sprite. "But I will comply with your orders. Your experiment. Graciously been allowed to participate. Will take fairness into consideration. Would not have considered doing this. Gives me an interesting challenge. Now feeling a sense of purpose."

"Experiment?" Ho-oh echoed, as if this had been the first time he had heard the word.

"Yes."

"This is all an experiment to you?" Ho-oh demanded. The only sign that Uxie's response had angered him was the clenching of his beak. He had wanted someone who was passionate and agreed with the cause; not someone who saw the entire crusade as a science experiment.

"Yes. What else would it be?" Uxie replied. Ho-oh's response had confused him.

"I am purging the world of an entire virulent species…do you not have any views on this?"

"Matter cannot be created or destroyed. Only changed chemically or physically. The amount of particles of a creature in life and in death, though possibly changed somewhat, stays the same. See little difference," the All-Knowing replied nonchalantly.

Ho-oh could not help but stop and stare at Uxie, astounded at the sheer lack of interest towards something like life and death. To call his crusade an experiment felt so…degrading. Here he was planning something that would have a great benefit to all of Pokémon-kind and now some sprite sees the entire thing as a lab test. "Do you even have opinions?" he asked bitterly.

"Of course. Am interested in your use of orb of creation. Removal of dampeners for instance. Interesting strategy to begin initial elimination of humans. Dampener removal begins with sensations of overwhelming power and need to release them. Pokémon may resist as not to hurt nearby humans. Effect of resistance: pain. The more resistance, the more the said Pokémon's powers begin to leak out. Much like tying hose with gushing water into a tight knot. Water will try to find any orifice to escape through to relieve the pressure. Result, humans near Pokémon get caught in crossfire until Pokémon becomes unconscious from pain. Different for wild Pokémon. Overwhelming power embraced. Not rejected. Therefore, transition smooth and unnoticeable from outward perspective."

Even though he was aware that Ho-oh already knew this, Uxie continued to speak, appearing to be voicing thoughts.

"Finally, someone who understands my genius," Ho-oh said with a smile. A tear of joy appeared to be forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Not only thing interested in. Must thank you for removing dampeners. Has allowed me to reach full potential. Before, efficiency greatly hindered due to distractions…emotions. Now amount of emotions reduced. Take great pleasure in feeling efficient. But lacked purpose…until this scenario appeared. Enjoy doing experiments. Solving difficult problems. Especially those when under pressure and more logic oriented," Uxie replied.

Ho-oh needed no more convincing; Uxie was on his side. He believed the humans referred to it as looking a gift Ponyta in the mouth, and he even found that concept abhorrent. "Dampeners have also changed method of way the attacks appear, are produced, and executed. Interesting development," Uxie said to himself.

"You are of particular interest in one aspect. First time seeing Pokémon with three types. Cannot sense presence like I can everything else. Cannot sense you at all, rely on psychic abilities to compensate for inability to see with own eyes."

"How did you become blind?" Ho-oh asked.

"Blind. No. Personal preference to maintain eyes closed. Eye contact with sentient creature reduces their mentality to that of newborn. Erases all memories. Wipes surviving neurons clean," Uxie replied.

Ho-oh shuddered as he recalled being at eye level with the sprite not too long ago. "Wait? What of my immortality?" he asked.

"Cunning. Gave yourself ability to be reborn from ashes your body becomes when wounded to the point of death. Had ability been applied to any other Pokémon, process would've made them return as an infant. Legendaries do not biologically age unless made to with orb of creation. Hence, you are reborn into your initial state of when you were created. No wounds. Peak of physical strength and health. Closest thing to birth for a Legendary."

"I guess I cannot expect him to appreciate everything that I do," Ho-oh mumbled as Uxie began to turn and float away once more.

"Permission to begin making improvements?"

_He's already leaving to do them._ Ho-oh thought. He then turned to Uxie. "Go ahead, would you mind if I followed you?" he asked.

"Certainly not. Would enjoy company."

Ho-oh glanced back at Mewtwo, rooted to the same spot he had when Uxie appeared. "Mewtwo, stay where you are. I will return," he ordered.

Ho-oh sighed. He was starting to grow tired of giving extremely precisely worded orders with no loopholes his puppet can exploit. This served as a constant reminder that Mewtwo did not join of his own free will.

Uxie reached another pair of steel doors at the other end of the room, opening them much more gently than Mewtwo had. A stadium awaited them on the other side. Rows of empty bleachers for a phantom audience greeted them. The stadium's floor was marred with the scars of a long forgotten battle.

Ho-oh noticed something different about the weather; the air was still and the eye of the maelstrom directly above the island revealing a clear patch of starry night. With the surrounding storms seemingly held at bay, the windmills that powered the facility were now inactive.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ho-oh demanded, scanning the skies.

"Rayquaza," Uxie replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Undeterred from his path, he ventured to the other side of the stadium.

"Rayquaza?"

"Yes. Decided to join you. Motives logical. Humans damaged atmosphere. His domain. Under his protection. Presence has stopped storm. Could send him away but…wishes to speak with you. Told him to wait"

"Let him come," Ho-oh's replied. His voice carried undisguised ecstasy.

The emerald serpentine figure of Rayquaza slithered through the air, sliding into view. He coiled around himself upon the battle court; the top halves of his body rearing back like an angry Arbok, only his hisses were more bone chilling.

"Ho-oh, a pleasure," he said. His jet stream-like voice was deafening in such a confined space.

"The pleasure is all mine," Ho-oh replied. He extended his wings and bowed his head.

"I've come to join you in your cause"

"So I've heard from our little friend here," Ho-oh replied, gesturing to Uxie with a wing. Uxie paused only to turn his head in their general direction.

"Tell me how we may exact our vengeance against the humans and I will see it carried out."

"Willing to work? Excellent. May I suggest a course of action for him to take?" Uxie asked.

Both the Sentinel of the Jet Stream and the Guardian of the Sky looked at the All-Knowing, who waiting patiently for Ho-oh's permission. Ho-oh nodded; he was pleasantly surprised that Uxie had actually taken his leadership into account.

"Human networking may hinder of our progress of eliminating them. Telecommunication of any sort proves vital to their survival. As a species, technology seems to be their strong suit. You have done well by stopping initial communication at radio tower, but humans adapt quickly. Will adapt. Find loopholes. Removing satellites will greatly reduce their resources. This also coincides with Rayquaza's ability to easily survive and move in the earth's upper atmosphere, making him best suited for this task."

"So you're essentially telling me to go to my domain and destroy those machines just outside my domain, and the humans won't keep sending replacements. I think I like this side already," Rayquaza said with a smile. He uncoiled off the ground and shot into the sky like a rocket. Once he was above the sea of clouds, nothing was left to hold back the storms, which now closed in on them. The windmills frantically spun, and the metal halide lamps flicked on and flooded the stadium with blinding white light.

Ho-oh shifted his gaze back to the stadium and found Uxie now at the end of the stadium and peering down a large fissure. Uxie's features were now clear to him. Three rubies were embedded in his body; two on his tails, one in the middle of his forehead. The golden dome upon his head had creases that ran down its length, reminiscent of a human brain.

Uxie floated down into the dark unknown, Ho-oh following as the crevice was large enough for him to glide through.

After several seconds of darkness they reached what appeared to be a laboratory of some sort. A conveyor belt connected the opposing walls, feeding whatever rode it into a machine that looked like the coiled shell of a Magcargo. Tubes filled with lime green liquid extended from the machine and ended in black, gelatinous pods on the floor. Blank television screens adorned the walls and machines, now whirring to life as power flooded the cables.

"Uxie…do you know everything, being the essence of knowledge that you are?" Ho-oh sheepishly asked. He looked around at the various beeping machines he would never know how to utilize or handle.

"Certainly not. Essence of knowledge inapt description. More like essence of… intelligence. Knowledge and intelligence different. Knowledge awareness. Intelligence capacity to understand. Used creation orb for latter. Unified decision with Azelf and Mesprit to use fourth orb of creation for creativity. Wanted to share what we were born with. Sometimes…wonder if we made a mistake. The price of giving these gifts has created art, but also pointless self-destruction. Apologize. Not intending to evade question. No. I do not know everything. I am capable of learning new things. Such as this," Uxie replied, gesturing towards the machine.

"What is this?"

"Very thing you need to have Kyogre's ace join you. Hopefully not exaggeration on his part. Never seen this creature. Anyway. Read Mewtwo's mind. Now able to utilize everything in facility. Otherwise, would be unable to modify, mass produce, or enlarge," Uxie said.

"How much of Mewtwo's mind did you read?"

"Everything. Every memory."

"What was this place?" Ho-oh asked, glancing around the mysterious lab.

"Originally, facility for cloning. Repurposed as fortress against Armageddon. Ludicrous. Though possibly not farfetched if Mewtwo's powers are taken into consideration," Uxie replied.

"How long will it take to get what we need for Kyorge's ace?"

"May take month as Kyogre said. The ace's presence and understanding of facility for necessary for it to join and utilize," Uxie replied, activating the machines and absorbing the information that played across the control panel.

Ho-oh remained quiet, not wanting to disturb Uxie as he worked. The beeps were beginning to wear his patience thin. Ho-oh was tempted to ask Uxie a question that had been bothering him since Lugia had taken the orb of creation.

"Uxie. What are our chances of succeeding?" Ho-asked, shifting nervously in place.

"Question too vague. As I said before. Too many variables. Too many. Human extermination ratio difficult to calculate. Must take into consideration individual intelligence, positioning, force of will, genetic attributes, upbringing of both species, s-" Uxie replied, his attention focused on the control panel.

"That will do. Let me ask you another question. What are our chances of taking back the orb of creation with our new allies?"

"43.673-," Uxie droned.

"A simple good or bad will suffice," Ho-oh replied. Uxie was starting to test his patience but he decided not to show it.

"Good and bad incapable of accurately defining outcome of scenario. Chances…low. Insufficient resources to attempt attack."

Ho-oh's face began to show signs of worry. "Dare I ask how you've come to this conclusion?" he asked.

"Force of collective strength exceed our own…for the moment. Killing wrong Regigigas creates high probability that real Regigigas has joined Lugia. Meaning that his creations are to side with him as well. Currently guarding the Tree of Beginning. Mew's life tied to Tree of Life. High probability of joining once aware of what you've done to Mewtwo. Kyogre's presence on the team dictates that Groudon will join Lugia. High probability of Legendary Birds also joining Lugia. Lugia's lifemate also joined. Mesprit overly emotional. Will probably disagree and go against us. Other legendary allegiances debatable."

"What of Celebi?"

"High probability of being neutral," Uxie replied simply, floating back and forth across the room and inspecting its contents.

"Neutral?"

"Yes. Documented human evidence reports that Celebi rarely appears during times of war. Time traveling ability very powerful, but may contain many restriction to her actions. Therefore, not personal choice to enter absence during difficult times. Seems to favor humans and willing to exploit loopholes and aid Lugia's side a little, but cannot join and will rapidly exit this timeframe. Other neutral Pokemon include my brother Azelf, Heatran, and Shaymin. Otherwise, Legendaries not mentioned are simply not present in this dimension or solar system, despite feeling the effects of dampener removal, or deceased."

"Where do you think they are keeping the orb of creation?" Ho-oh asked.

"Unsure. Could have hidden or used it already. Possibility also exists that they are guarding it. Most suitable place being the Tree of Beginning."

"Why there?"

"Gathering from what I've learned by reading Rayquaza and Mewtwo's mind, I've deduced that to be their best fortress and meeting place. Once Lugia encountered you, Mewtwo, and Kyogre there's a high possibility he went to alert his family and creations, which were in the vicinity. From there, must have gone to the Orre region to recruit brother and failed, hence his brother's arrival at the radio tower to join you. This coincides when factoring their speed, stamina, and wind resistance of area," Uxie replied.

Ho-oh could only nod and stare as the gray and yellow sprite spoke, psychically lifting what appeared to be dust on the conveyor belt while he inspected the multiple mechanical clamps within the machine.

"Celebi also occasionally takes residence in the Orre region, which may factor in to their meeting and why she is helping them. The Tree of Beginning is east of that region and would make sense for him to head there next to recruit the Regi trio and Mew. Lugia's lifemate went to recruit Groudon who knows the area of the 'tree' well due to helping create it. Aside from that, any other allegiances they may have had will be from the actions you have taken and Celebi's assistance…but this is all guesswork mind you."

Ho-oh's head was spinning from the influx of information, but he eventually began to grasp it. "How do you know all of this?" he asked.

"Azelf, Mesprit, and I were hidden and dormant within the major lakes of Sinnoh. So to still have a semblance of a life, we have achieved the ability to create astral projections. Spirit moves freely. Seeing and hearing everything while body stays behind. I have done this for many years. Have learned quite a bit from observation."

"When do you think we will be ready to strike them?"

"Would say within a month's time we could…wait. Recalculating. Taking lack of efficiency into account and accommodating for your pace would leave us at…give or take two months. As mentioned before, have assignments that must be completed before attack can be possible…at your own pace of course."

"Thank you for answering my questions Uxie. I shall leave you to your work. Please keep me updated," Ho-oh replied.

"Will do," Uxie said, his back still turned to Ho-oh as he began to exit the lab.

Just before he left completely, Ho-oh stopped and turned his head. "Uxie. If I asked you…would you wipe the memory of anyone I asked?" he asked. Thoughts of Mewtwo were present in the Legendary's mind.

"Would respectfully refuse."

"Fair enough," Ho-oh replied with a shrug just before he exited the lab.

It was only after Ho-oh had been long gone that a figure appeared on the computer screen that Uxie was "looking" at.

"Hmm…how unusual. How did this get here? Interesting. Wonder if this machine is capable of creating this. Will have to see. Interesting prospect, may open new doors. Will have to keep this secret. Ho-oh's shortsighted hatred may make him blind to the possibilities this subject can create," Uxie said to himself, looking at the single strand of black hair.

* * *

The world was changing, that much was certain. Anyone venturing out into this new and deadly world would have to be brave. Yes, one would definitely need that quality to survive this brave new world.


	10. Epilogue

**I would like to thank my beta reader, Jakayrta, for always giving my writing and dialogue a much needed polish, getting my chapters back to me quickly, this chapter title, and always being there to help me bounce off ideas and get suggestions. I would also like to thank Hiiro Mizutani for his contribution as well. **

* * *

**August 27

* * *

**

All of the Legendaries were gathered inside their lithic citadel for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was the same topics all the time: why had this war started, what to do with the single orb of creation they possessed with a dash of human psychology thrown in.

"Maybe we should focus on why this happened," Cresselia said. A majority of the group began to groan at the revival of the topic.

"The humans pissed Ho-oh off, what's there to focus on?" Groudon grumbled.

"Yes, but we need to look past that, look deeper into its meaning. We cannot do anything about the way the humans consume resources, but maybe we can build a new perspective of the humans that will allow us to shed light on how to use the orb of creation."

"Ho-oh's anger stems from the destruction of his tower when the humans attempted to capture him," Lugia said.

"Exactly, maybe if we look into this, it will help us-"

Darkrai cut Cresselia off with a very loud sigh. Her positive, motherly attitude was beginning to wear on everyone's nerves. Darkrai and his kin's actions had occasionally caused humans to go through a similar process with another human; known as "psychiatrists". Now he began to empathize with their suffering.

His hand seemed attached his forehead as if to quell an upcoming headache. Lugia did not blame him; he too was beginning to grow tired of the unending arguments. Their debates had gone on for over a week now, with no sign of reaching a compromise regarding how to use the final orb of creation.

Mew began to sleep through the meetings now, only to be rudely awakened when the debates inevitably devolved into shouting matches. Cresselia and Darkrai agreed to stay far enough away from Mew so as not to affect him.

The Regi Trio showed no signs of annoyance; not once had they offered their opinions and thoughts on the subject since the first meeting. As long as it did not involve the Tree of Beginning, they remained motionless and mute.

Silver and his mother had been allowed to join the meetings with Silver usually staying close to Latias. Mesprit appeared to be sleeping in the corner but in actuality, she had spent several days surveying the status of the world via astral projection, leaving her body in the care of the others; Lugia could not help but expect the worse.

"What compelled the humans to feel the need to begin capturing Pokémon?" Cresselia asked. It was a difficult question; none of the Legendaries had ever given the idea much thought.

"Surely they did not capture us for the sole reason that we are there!" she added with a frown. The silence in the chamber irked her as it made it feel like no one cared about her opinions.

"Humans are conquerors; whether it with is Pokémon or with each other. There is always the attempt to make one serve under the other, to show their dominance through strength or intelligence, whether it be business or battling with Pokémon," Darkrai said. Out of the Legendaries, he and Cresselia had the most experience interacting with humans.

"But why the need for violence?" Latias interjected.

"Violence has been a central part of their race for as long as they can remember," Articuno added.

"They are experiencing a time of peace, though. It has been decades if not centuries since the humans have last gone to war against each other. It is during these times of peace that their advancement in technology has skyrocketed," Moltres said.

"Especially their capturing devices," Zapdos added bitterly.

"Their focus during these times of peace has gone more into capturing us than their own self-destructive ways."

As the Legendaries listened to Moltres's statement, they began to acknowledge Cresselia's observation.

"Could it be that the humans, from an early age, tame their violent nature by utilizing us in battles under the guise of sport? That way, once they have reached adulthood, they no longer have these aggressive tendencies?" Silver's mother said.

"That might be it," Cresselia replied. She smiled, feeling that they were beginning to get somewhere and that her hopes would be answered.

"This conversation is stupid," Zapdos said.

"I find it interesting!" Moltres snapped. She then turned to Articuno. "Don't you sister?" she asked.

"I really don't care," Articuno replied.

"You two are unbelievable! Here we are, possibly at the brink of finding an answer to all of this and you two have to go and say something stupid!" The Firebird said, glaring at her siblings.

"Aside from this conversation, if anything is stupid, that would be you my _dear_ sister," Zapdos spat.

Having his Legendary Birds in the same room proved to be fatal mistake; they seemed to be physically incapable of agreeing on anything. The sky could be blue to one, azure to the other, and cerulean to the third, and they would not budge from their decision.

Groudon's presence did not make things easier, forcing everyone to take a recess every half hour lest the heat radiated from his body roast them alive. They had tried placing Regice and Articuno near him to cancel the heat, but the effort proved futile. Worse of all, escaping the heat by going outside was just as bad as the ferocious summer sun baked the stony landscape.

Fights had nearly broken out within the chamber before with Mesprit having to intervene several times. Lugia only hoped that a fight did not break out in her absence. There had been talk getting another orb of creation. When discussions of that occurred, Lugia felt it necessary to let them know that one method was possible.

Anyone who was created by an orb of creation could have their orb of creation removed by their creator as long as they had consented to give it up. As Arceus – the Creator of All – had created most of the Legendaries from an orb of creation, only he could remove them. The Legendaries could not will themselves to be unmade and surrender their orb of creation to the others.

Arceus had proven impossible to contact; his participation in the war – either against or for humanity – was doubtful. Groudon would have to unmake all the continents to procure one orb of creation; the idea was automatically out of the question.

The information that Lugia provided only added fuel to the flames of their arguments. Once Lugia had finished explaining, everyone's sights had converged upon his Legendary Birds and the Regi Trio. The Legendary Birds instantly noticed the sudden shift in attention; in contrast, the Regi Trio showed no sign of noticing or for that matter, any sign that they were awake.

The argument suddenly became one of whether or not Regigigas and Lugia's creations were willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of humanity. Tensions rose, the atmosphere rapidly becoming uncomfortable.

"So you're willing to fight and die for the humans, but not to forgo that existence to possibly save them?" Groudon asked.

"I feel that I could be of better use if I were still alive," Articuno replied, her brother and sister nodding in agreement.

"What of the Regis? They stand here like statues, speechless and motionless. They do not sleep, they do not eat, are they even truly alive? They serve no purpose other than to guard this place, a role that can be easily replaced. Would anything change if they were to stop existing?" Zapdos asked, redirecting attention to Regigigas and his golems, the latter saying nothing in their defense.

"He makes a valid point," Groudon added. Regigigas' dots flared crimson, his friend's comment tantamount to betrayal. Regigigas shifted his attention back at Zapdos, pointing a large pale finger at him.

"Mind your tongue, bird!" Regigigas thundered. "My creations can prove to be more useful than all of you! I demand a battle to see who is more worthy of existence! The end result will leave us with creation orbs." The others did not know that the Mover of Continent's creations were, in a sense, immortal.

Arcs of electricity danced along the Master of Lighting's body as he glared at Regigigas.

"Cease this at once! Had I known this information would bring about this reaction I would have kept silent! Now is not the time to fight amongst each other; this will only contribute to Ho-oh's cause!" Lugia shouted, immediately ending the impending battle between Zapdos and Regigigas. He had taken to the center of the room, directly above the orb of creation.

"What of your opinion of this, Lugia? Would you be willing to give up one of your 'precious' creations?" Regigigas asked.

"You know my answer well, Regigigas. I created them, saved them from death eternal, and only I have the power to undo their existence if I ever choose," Lugia said. He glanced over at his creations. Moltres gave a worried glance back at him; Articuno's reaction was of worry and pain; Zapdos glared at Lugia as if already expecting his betrayal.

"They are not perfect; none of us are," Lugia continued. "But I stand by my decision and refuse to unmake them. It is not my decision alone; the choice also rests with them. I would appreciate if you did not pressure them into deciding by showering them with guilt. We have yet to even decide what to do with a single orb of creation, let alone several. If worst comes to worst, a decision can be made; until then let us focus on the matter at hand."

Regigigas crossed his arms and gave his version of a nod; he refused to unmake his creations. The Regi Trio being the closest thing to children for him. Silver beamed with pride at the sight of his father being the mediator.

Mesprit suddenly stirred in the corner of the room, her spirit reuniting with her body. "Please tell me, you've come to a decision," Mesprit said. She seemed visibly shaken.

The Legendaries instantly avoided eye contact when she looked to them. The action said more than any words they could have chosen.

"You haven't decided yet!" Mesprit screeched.

"How bad is it out there?" Latias asked.

"Bad? Bad! 'Bad' doesn't even begin to describe it! No words have been created to…no words seem strong enough to…to…ARRGGH!" Mesprit screamed, holding her head in her hands as she gently floated to the floor.

Lugia could only imagine what horrors Mesprit had witnessed.

"While you're all comfortably arguing here, everyone else is dying. It's not just humans. Ho-oh's plan has gotten out of control!"

"What do you mean?" Silver's mother asked.

"It seems like every poison Pokémon has their own agenda. They don't care who they hurt. The Muk are destroying everything in their path, nature, Pokémon, humans, and their creations included. Their very presence poisons the earth. Once they touch a piece of land, nothing will ever grow there for years! Every breath makes the air toxic, and if they reach the sea…" Mesprit trailed off, shuddering at the unimaginable disaster that would unfold if the they did reach the sea. She finally regained her composure. "I can't see how this fits into Ho-oh's plan of helping the environment!" she exclaimed.

Darkrai was going to comment how Muk thrived in places of waste and sludge; an invention of humanity, but decided that this was an inappropriate time.

"The Beedrill and Combee have become mindless drones; they're killing anything that comes near their ever expanding hives. Zubats have become bloodthirsty and as long as something has blood, they don't care who they kill and that's not even the worse of it all," Mesprit continued, a list of other Pokemon already formed in her head. She was on the brink of tears; the Legendaries staying silent. They were too horrified at the ecological apocalypse unfolding before them.

"Raikou has been stationed near the center of the Johto region; he seems to be guarding a human tower of metal. Entei's been destroying entire cities to the southeast of the region. He's trying to find a method that works fastest for killing every human and leveling any standing human structure in the area," Mesprit said. Her teeth were gritted together in rage as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

All the Legendaries gaped in horror at what the pink sprite revealed. They had no words to describe the carnage she had described.

"…and I had to _**watch it happen**_!" Mesprit shouted, her voice finally cracking as she broke down into tears.

Latias and Darkrai instantly worried for the safety of their own prospective cities, but felt it rude to ask about them at the moment. Latias's empathetic ability began to work against her, her eyes starting to shimmer.

Mesprit took notice and wiped away a tear, her pink and puffy eyes staring at Latias. "I took the liberty of checking Altomare and Alamos Town as well as Ogi and Shamouti Island. They're safe for the time being," she said.

Latias released a breath she had been holding; Darkrai visibly relaxed his shoulders and closed his eye.

"Thank you," Lugia replied. The weight of knowing was removed from the minds of the Legendaries.

"I'm…sorry. I'm letting myself get so emotional…it's just that…that…" Mesprit took a deep breath, unable to finish her sentence.

"It's quite all right Mesprit. We understand entirely," Cresselia said with such tenderness one would think she were the sprite's mother.

"You didn't have to see them…you didn't have to hear them… _scream_…" Mesprit continued as if she hadn't heard them. Her golden eyes widened in fear as she saw ghosts of burning buildings and horribly maimed people appear before her eyes; the screams of the wounded and the crying of humans searching for their loved ones echoed in her ears. Tears flowed once more as the Spirit of Emotion tried to remove the horrifying images and sounds from her mind.

"Mesprit…If you need some time alone we un-" Lugia said..

"No! You need to hear this, you need to know! You weren't there! If hearing this helps hasten your decision, so be it. I refuse to venture out into the world again! It's too…too…" Mesprit was at a loss for words to describe everything she had seen as a whole.

"You mentioned Entei and Raikou, but what of Suicune?" Articuno asked.

"Suicune is traveling throughout the northern part of the Johto region, he's wiping out humans and any Pokémon they might have with them. He's leaving the settlements intact so that Entei can clean up after him. I've gone through Orre and they seem to have their own problems, though it is not as widespread as the other regions."

"From the looks of it, I would say that the Johto region has gotten the worst of it, seeing as Ho-oh has all three of his dogs working on it," Moltres said.

"I don't know if I could say one region has it worse than the others."

"Did you happen to see Ho-oh and Mewtwo? Kyogre? Rayquaza?" Groudon asked.

"I saw Rayquaza. He was up in the ozone layer and firing at something, I don't know what though," Mesprit said.

Mew began to wake at the mention of Mewtwo, reading all the nearby minds to quickly catch up on the conversation.

"What of my brother?" Lugia asked. He was starting to feel guilty for adding to the barrage of questions that assaulted the Creator of Emotion.

"I didn't see him either. He could be in the seas; I didn't search all of them. Just Orre, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Fiore, Oblivia, and Almia," Mesprit replied.

The Legendaries could not help but be surprised that she had covered so much distance in so little time.

"I guess from what we've heard, we can guess that Ho-oh's base of operations would be in Johto," Zapdos said.

"That's not entirely true. Ho-oh is not restricted to a single location and could have multiple bases – possibly in different regions," Regigigas replied.

"A luxury that we do not have," Groudon added.

"Do the humans have any safe places?" Mew chirped, gaining the attention of the conference once again.

"Aside from the places I specifically checked and mentioned before, I haven't seen anywhere that the wild Pokémon haven't reached." Mespirt said.

"It seems reasonable to assume that islands seem to be safe," Moltres said.

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but I wouldn't count on it. Kyogre would love nothing more than to wipe any part of my territory off the face of the earth since he knows he can get away with it now. Those islands are living off borrowed time," Groudon replied.

Latias did not take the news well. It had been ten days since she had left Altomare; it had been the longest time she had ever been away from home. She had fought off her longing to see her home again. Now with this news, she wanted to go home more than ever.

She imagined Kyogre sending a tsunami at Altomare, knowing that if that occurred, she would give her life to protect it. But the more she thought about it, the more futile the sacrifice became. Kyogre could easily summon another tsunami after her death; her only choice left was to take on the King of the Seas by herself. Latias doubted whether she would win, she hoped that if it ever came down to it, she could depend on the others to help her out.

"Have the humans shown any sign of retaliating?" Articuno asked.

"The humans were hit hard by this sudden attack; they're completely disorganized and scattered. They don't have time to consider retaliation because they're too busy trying to stay alive. I saw so little humans and so much death and destruction. I'm not like my bastard brother Uxie, so I'm not great at math, but at least I know that the death toll is in the millions. My best guess is probably a little over six million dead and probably still rising…and that's the humans alone. Including the Pokémon, their count rises even higher," Mesprit replied.

The numbers hit every Legendary in the room like a Giga Impact to the gut. Whether or not they truly cared for the humans, the sheer amount of death in ten days was staggering. Everyone in the room grew silent; each of them was affected by the news differently. Mesprit seemed to have finally calmed down and kept her emotions in check. And she decided to continue speaking.

"The few surviving humans had strong Pokémon, solid bonds between them, but they themselves can only hold out for so long. They wander the lands in search of provisions, other survivors, and a safe shelter, all of those now scarce. I have seen some humans survive with only one Pokémon, or no Pokémon at all and relying on their skills alone," she continued.

"Alone!" Groudon replied in disbelief, his brow raised in skepticism. He now had to give the humans some credit.

"Yes. They carry with them effective tools and weapons to fend off almost anything that comes at them. On rare occasions, I found humans gifted with remarkable psychic abilities – for humans at least – but compared to most Pokémon, human bodies are still fragile. They do not have the stamina or strength that the most basic wild Pokémon possesses. They need to consume food frequently and require larger quantities of nourishment than Pokémon do, the same with sleep. I've seen several humans travel in groups, and although it provides more protection, it puts a strain on the group itself for having to find provisions for themselves, and their Pokémon. They will not hold out for much longer against the undampened Pokémon."

"How can humans possess psychic abilities?" Cresselia's asked.

"I don't know. It could be a mutation, or a defect that possibly made their dampeners similar to a psychic Pokémon, so much so that Ho-oh's wish caused them to unlock like the wild Pokemon," Mesprit replied.

Mew scratched his head in bewilderment. "Humans have dampeners?" he asked. Granted, it was news to nearly everyone around him but he was the only one to vocalize it.

"I would assume so, they may not be as large as those of Pokémon and Ho-oh's wish specifically targeted Pokémon. But psychic humans were a loophole in that wish."

"What if we were to remove the dampeners of the humans?" Darkrai asked.

"They…might possibly go through the same sensations the Pokémon felt. Increased speed, strength, stamina, endurance, and so on," Lugia replied.

"But that would also mean that they might go through a murderous tantrum we felt when our dampeners were removed" Regigigas said.

Lugia frowned. "If that is the case, then their already low numbers may decrease even further," he said.

"Ho-oh may have not considered this; removing their dampeners might be the humans' only hope of survival," Silver said.

"At what cost? This would affect every surviving human! And what of the rampage that we went through when our dampeners were removed?" Mew said.

The Legendaries continued to argue back and forth over issue of undampened humans. Some argued for it, saying it was humanity's only hope for survival; others argued against it, saying that removing the dampeners would cause the humans to rampage, decreasing their numbers even further and playing right into Ho-oh's hands.

Zapdos remained silent. "_Humans are conquerors; whether it with is Pokémon or with each other_. _Violence has been a central part of their race for as long as they can remember_," Articuno and Darkai's words from early in the meeting echoed within the Master of Lighting's head. He decided to vocalize his feelings. "Can none of you consider the ramifications of going through with this decision? The consequences!" Zapdos thundered over the voices debating across the room.

"Consequences?" Latias asked. She wondered exactly what the consequences of undampened humans would be.

"If these humans survive all of this; if this war is ever over; what is to be of us under the reign of these…these…super-humans that we've created!"

The room grew silent, no one had considered what the fate of the world and its inhabitants – human and Pokémon alike – would be if the war over. The prospect seemed so far away they hadn't bothered to talk about it. What could come of this war if the humans won?

The removal of the dampeners was completely irreversible.

The silence was stifling as each Legendary recalled the words of Articuno and Darkrai: humans were warriors and conquerors.

Would the humans become hateful towards Pokémon-kind for all the death and destruction they had caused? It was foolish to think that humans would try coexisting peacefully with Pokémon after their near extermination at the hands of Pokémon-kind. Lugia doubted the humans would ever trust Pokémon again after this entire affair. Would it be the end of one war and the start of another one?

"Who says we have to make the change permanent? We could make it so the humans are undampened until the war is over," Silver said, breaking the awkward silence.

"And how long would that take? How do we know this will only stop at one war?" Zapdos countered.

Despite the fact that the other Legendaries did not have the highest opinion of Zapdos; it was hard to refute the Master of Lightning's logic.

"This world will have no future if Ho-oh is allowed to do as he pleases! The world will be a barren wasteland if the wild Pokémon are allowed to rampage and if the humans continue to die while we do nothing!" Mesprit screamed.

Lugia thought about what Arcticuno and Darkrai said. But he also kept what Mesprit had discovered on her recon mission in mind. He was silent for a few minutes as he thought about his choices. After an awkward silence, he spoke. "She's right, Zapdos. I'm sorry, but if this is allowed to continue there will be no future for any of us. The best we can do is work with the humans to build a future where we can coexist peacefully. It will not and cannot be like before the war; we can no longer watch complacently as the humans do as they please. We must ensure that a disaster of this magnitude never occurs again. We must work with the humans and that is only possible if they survive this," Lugia said, glancing at the gathered Legendaries of the room. Zapdos fumed silently as his argument was completely shot down by Mesprit's response.

"Let us settle this as humans do: democratically," Darkrai said, raising his arm and scanning the room for the other Legendaries' responses.

Within a few minutes, the majority had voted to go through with the wish.

"It is decided then," Lugia said. He turned to face the orb of creation in the center of the room. He would have to pick his words carefully to avoid inadvertently making the dampener removal permanent or giving Ho-oh a loophole he could exploit. Most importantly, he had to ensure that the humans did not go through the painful spasms that the Pokémon had gone through; their change would be gradual and painless. But eventually, the humans would become stronger, smarter, and faster. The would see farther, run longer, and master anything they put their mind to.

Humanity had one choice: to try and survive and live with the Legendaries' blessing.

* * *

**I hope this finally sheds some light on Dawn's sudden shooting prowess as well as Samurai and Ash's boost in physical capabilities.**


End file.
